Excited to introduce a new original content series: FOORENDâs Friends.
FOOREND started as a food trend newsletter and has been growing into a broader F&B platform. Along the way, weâve connected with incredible people across the industry â and we want to share their stories.
FOORENDâs Friends spotlights people who are shaping the F&B space in their own way: buyers, marketers, creators, operators, and everyone in between.
Our first feature? A personal one â starting with me. I began my career as an F&B buyer at a department store, and have since moved into marketing and content. It felt right to kick things off by being the first to open up.
If youâre in F&B â or just curious about the people behind it â I hope this series resonates with you.
Check out the full story + our archive at FoodTrend.news
Name: Alex Kim
How you discovered FOOREND:
Iâm the person who started FOOREND. My sole proprietorship is also registered under the name FOOREND!
What you DO:
I started my career as an F&B buyer at a department store and have since worked in marketing for offline F&B brands. Iâve been the lead supervisor for the Kakao Webtoon Hell Employee for 7 years, and have been running this F&B business newsletter FOOREND for 4 years. I also take on various F&B-related freelance projects.
The BEST part of your job:
I work with almost no restrictions on time or place. Whether Iâm doing collaboration, education, or consulting work through FOOREND, or handling other freelance projects, I work from home or a cafĂŠ most days except when I have in-person meetings or on-site sessions. Last year, I served as a trend consultant for Baemin Foodservice Plaza (Woowa Brothers) for a year, and gave global F&B trend lectures at the Local Artisan School run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups / Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business. Recently Iâm currently in talks about connecting another brand IP with F&B.
The HARDEST part of your job:
My income is inconsistent. Work comes and goes, so Iâm constantly working to gradually grow my fixed income. If you think thereâs something fun we could do together with Alex / FOOREND â reach out anytime, youâre always welcome!
Your WEEKDAY routine:
The moment I wake up, I put on a home workout YouTube video and get moving. I do a short Duolingo session studying English, Japanese, and French, then mentally organize my to-do list while showering. If I have a meeting, I head out; if not, I work on freelance tasks or FOOREND content (news clipping, writing, etc.) for the day. If I have extra time, I watch YouTube videos about Claude Code to learn. The archive site foodtrend.news linked in my profile was actually built with Claude Code! These days Iâm studying OpenClaw agents and Claude Cowork. My first goal is to fully automate all recurring tasks, including FOOREND! After spending the day like that, I have a simple meal around 4â5 PM, get back to work, then wind down watching YouTube around 7â8 PM. As midnight rolls around, I open Duolingo again and do it until Iâm sleepy â thatâs my very TMI weekday routine!
Your WEEKEND routine:
Itâs mostly date days, but when my girlfriend has her own plans, I spend time with family or stay home and rest all day by myself. This homebody doesnât make weekend plans!
Things you LOVE:
Iâve loved hip-hop since my school days, so I enjoy live performance videos and content that feels like chatting with friends about topics I care about â like interview content from Looksam, Chimchakman, Moneygraphy and others. When I eat, I watch content from Samdaejang / Papuri (run by friends my age!) or recipe channels like JpFoodcast, Yonam, SWAB85. Food-wise, I love pizza, fried chicken, burgers, pasta, grilled meat, and salmon sushi. I donât drink a lot, but I enjoy a Guinness, wine, or whiskey with a meal. Whether itâs food or drinks, I appreciate things that are creative and refined, but I tend to prefer simple and intuitive over complex.
Things you DON'T LOVE:
Crowded places⌠which is why, despite years of requests to organize an offline FOOREND meetup, I still havenât managed to do it. That said, through this FOORENDâs Friends content, Iâm thinking of hosting small-scale offline gatherings...!
ANYTHING you'd like to say:
As mentioned, thereâs quite a lot I can doâŚ! If thereâs something youâd like to try together with Alex / FOOREND, feel free to reach out. And please look forward to FOOREND as it evolves into a global F&B platform. Thank you always, and I look forward to continuing this journey together!
đ1st Fridays â Korean Food Trend Highlights
đ3rd Fridays â Global Food Trend Highlights
đ Irregular Publication â FOOREND's Original Contents
âď¸FOOREND's Food Trend Archive foodtrend.news
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