The Korean Pantry Your Kitchen Has Been Missing
Esther Choi, CEO | Yannick Crespo, COO | Jean Pyo, CCO
She Loves Korean Food. She Just Can't Find It for Her Kitchen.
Our core customer persona identified, is an Asian American woman, 35-44, with $150K+ HHI, who cooks 2-3 times a week. She enjoys Korean flavors at restaurants.
Lacks Confidence at Home
Despite loving Korean flavors, she's hesitant to cook them herself.
No Premium Products
She can't find high-quality, inspiring Korean ingredients in stores.
Uninspiring Pantry Aisle
The current Korean pantry section is dominated by bulk, generic items with no personality.
Korean Is America's Fastest-Growing Food Obsession. The Pantry Aisle Looks Like 2005.
$37.2B
U.S. Asian food market · 4.7% CAGR
$3.8B
Premium Asian condiments · 12% CAGR · 2.7x faster than mass market
18.4%
Korean food export CAGR — fastest-growing Asian cuisine subcategory
Gochujang
Named 'Ingredient of the Year' — mainstream cultural validation
K-DRAMA & FILM CULTURAL SURGE
Streaming drives $5B+ in Korean cultural export impact
VIRAL KOREAN COOKING | TIKTOK
Gochujang menu mentions up 31% YoY across U.S. restaurants
GROCERY AISLE | BEFORE & AFTER
Korean BBQ Google Trends up 67% · Korean restaurant growth +45% (2020–2024)
Primary customer: Asian American woman, 35–44, $150K+ HHI, cooks 2–3x/week. Can't find premium Korean products. Needs a credible guide.
The culture moved. The pantry aisle didn't. That's the gap Sessy fills.
Sichuan Has One. Japanese Has One. Korean? Still Waiting.
KOREAN CULTURAL MAINSTREAMING
18.4%
Korean food export CAGR — the fastest-growing Asian cuisine in America
K-drama viewership is at all-time highs. Korean BBQ Google searches are up 67%. Gochujang was named Ingredient of the Year. The culture moved — the pantry aisle is still in 2005.
PREMIUMIZATION WAVE
8% → 15%
Premium condiment share of total category (2020–2025)
Consumers are trading up across every pantry staple. Premium Asian condiments are growing at 12% CAGR — 2.7x faster than mass market. Shoppers pay 2.3x more for products positioned as authentic. The premium shelf is wide open for Korean.
CREATOR ECONOMY SHIFT
$250B
Global creator economy
Chef-creator brands deliver 5.12x ROAS — trust beats traditional advertising. 42% of consumers discover food brands through social media. Esther's 767K audience is the acquisition engine, not paid ads.
The Creator Economy is shifting to a Zero CAC Model
Three forces. One window. The brand that moves first defines the category.
The K-Wave Is Here. The Window Won’t Last.
Korean food isn't just a trend; it's permanent. K-drama viewership is at all-time highs, Gochujang has moved from specialty aisles to Whole Foods endcaps, and Korean food content on TikTok has reached billions of views.
Yet, the Korean pantry aisle is stuck in 2005. It lacks premium positioning, brand personality, and chef endorsement.
No one has done for Korean what Fly By Jing did for Sichuan, Bachan's for Japanese, or Graza for olive oil. This gap won't stay open forever. The first credible Korean pantry brand to launch with chef authority, organic reach, and design-led branding will define the category for a generation.
That is Sessy. And we are launching June 1.
45%
Growth in Korean restaurants in the US over 5 years
$5B+
Annual export impact from K-culture globally
2.3x
Premium price premium consumers pay for authentically positioned products
The premium shelf fills fast. We're past critical mass — and no one has claimed Korean. Yet.
Esther Choi: The Chef Who Already Proved She Can Sell at Scale and Whose Audience Trusts Her Like Family.
767K+
Social media following
$5.5M
Walmart sales revenue
~1M Units Sold
Across Walmart Nationwide
National media appearances
Today · GMA · Food Network HBO, Netflix, Heat Eaters on First we Feast
~15M
Estimated monthly impressions
7x Restaurants
Mokbar, Ms. Yoo, oBar
Legit Korean Foundations, Chef-Made, with Margins Built to Scale
Sesame Oil (Organic Whole)
MSRP $17.50
Landed cost $10.00
Gross Margin 42.9%
Soy Sauce (Low Sodium)
MSRP $12
Landed cost $4.25
Gross Margin 64.6%
Gochujang (Korean Chili Paste)
MSRP $10
Landed cost $4.15
Gross Margin 58.5%
These SKUs are just the beginning. They feed into what happens next…
55.3% Blended Gross Margin | ~$9 Fulfillment per order
Sessy is a Collab Engine, built for viral moments.
BTS Army have been asking for the sauce en masse. We are making it for their Army.
We Don’t Own a Factory. Korea’s Most Trusted Food Company Makes It for Us.
Sessy is capital-efficient by design. No factory. No warehouse. No delivery fleet. Just a world-class supply chain built on the right partnerships.
1
Sempio (Korea — Est. 1946)
Manufacturing, ocean freight, tariffs & duties
2
NJ Warehouse (Sempio Delivery)
Arrives ready to ship. No warehouse lease.
3
ShipBob (3PL)
Pick, pack, ship. ~$9/order. No logistics staff.
4
Customer
60-day buffer stock. Zero CapEx required.
55.3%
Blended Gross Margin
~$9
Fulfillment Per Order (ShipBob 3PL)
Net-90
Payment Terms from Sempio
$0
CapEx Required
Sempio gave us net-90 terms on our first $109K inventory order — the kind of partnership that typically takes years to earn.
Esther Posts. People Buy. That’s the Model.
Esther's Organic Content
767K social audience. ~15M monthly impressions across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Creator Network Seeding
100+ food creators receive full Sessy Essentials kits before launch. Genuine product seeding — not paid partnerships.
Email + Pre-Launch Lead Gen
Convert Esther's followers into email subscribers. First-purchase discount for list members.
Referral & Organic Discovery
Every customer becomes an acquisition channel. Word-of-mouth from a community that trusts the chef.
Conventional DTC
30–40% of revenue to paid ads. $38–$45 CAC. Spend to acquire. Hope it sticks.
Sessy
0% paid ads year one. Organic content drives every dollar. Paid media activates only after product-market fit is proven.
Esther's audience is the acquisition engine. Paid media is upside, not dependency.
The Sessyverse: A Community That Cooks Together — and Sells for Us.
SESSY TASTEMAKERS
50 Founding Tastemakers
Before a single bottle hits our website, 50 handpicked food creators, recipe developers, and cultural tastemakers receive full Sessy Essentials cases — not samples. Full cases, branded packaging, handwritten notes from Esther. These aren't influencer deals. They're relationships.
CREATOR SEEDING
100+ Creator Kits at Launch
In the week before June 1, Sessy products land in the kitchens of 100+ Asian American food creators, home cooks, and culture makers. They post when they want, how they want. Authenticity, not obligation.
THE FLYWHEEL
Every Customer Is a Marketer
Recipe content drives discovery. Discovery drives trial. Trial builds community. Community creates more content. CAC decreases over time. Reach compounds.
Recipe Content
Drives Discovery
Discovery
Drives Trial
Trial
Builds Community
Community
Creates Content
Omsom built $2.5M in first-year revenue through organic community alone. The Sessyverse is our version of that playbook — powered by Esther's network and a product people are proud to share.
From Esther’s Kitchen to 5,000 Doors: The Five-Year Vision
Year 1
Proof of Concept — 3 hero SKUs, DTC-only, powered by Esther's organic reach.
Year 2
B2B Activates — Root2Sales unlocks specialty retail: H Mart, Erewhon, Whole Foods. 50–100 doors.
Year 3
Category Expansion — 6–8 SKUs, 200–500 retail doors, $3.23M total revenue.
Year 4
Omnichannel Scale — 8–10 SKUs, 500–1,000 doors, $9.24M total revenue.
Year 5
Category Leader — 10+ SKUs, 1,000+ doors, 170,000+ cumulative customers. $20.3M total revenue.
DTC proves the product. Retail proves the brand. Together, they build the Korean pantry category.
THE TEAM
A Chef, a Creative, and an Operator Walk Into a Korean Kitchen...
Esther Choi (CEO / cofounder)
767K+ social following, $5.5M Walmart sales track record, and frequent Today Show, GMA & Food Network guest.
Jean Pyo (CCO / cofounder)
Brand architect behind Sessy's identity, with a track record in CPG, NYC restaurants, and Asian-American influencer partnerships.
Yannick Crespo (COO / cofounder)
Finance, Operations, CPG expertise. Previously in hospitality, health, and travel tech sectors.
Advisors
Vanessa Pham
Advisor
Harvard · Ex-Bain CPG Practice · Forbes 30 Under 30 · Co-founded Omsom (5M+ units, Whole Foods + Target, acquired 2024).
Advisor
Co-founded Omsom · First female president Tech@NYU · Founding partner Dorm Room Fund & First Round Capital · 20B+ press impressions.
built a premium Asian food brand from DTC launch through national retail distribution.
Come Cook With Us. $1M Seed to Launch the Brand Korean Food Deserves
$4M Pre • $5M Post • SAFE • OVER 50% ALLOCATED
- Founder salaries: $3,500/month each (below market, saving ~$204K annually)
- Founders personally invested, showing deep conviction by leadership
- AI-First Operating Model - keeps headcount low and output high
Jun 2026
DTC Launch — 3 SKUs live + BTS Drop
Sep 2026
3,500+ customers milestone
Nov 2026
Squeeze Bottle expansion (3 → 6 SKUs)
2027
Phase 2 assessment & B2B Rollout
This is an invitation to build something lasting - not just fund another CPG brand.