Benson bets on robotics to make ice cream, premium quality to win customers

This article is by Kim Min-young and read by an artificial voice. POCHEON, Gyeonggi — A bright orange robot hand and two workers were packaging ice cream into brown tubs in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, as a cluster of reporters looked down at a sterile and quiet assembly line on Tuesday morning. The robot, made by Hanwha Robotics, was filling 10-liter (2.6-gallon) ice cream tubs at a rate the human operators alongside it could not have matched. The scene was the centerpiece of Benson's first media tour of its production center, marking one year since the premium ice cream brand launched in May 2025. Operated by Hanwha Galleria subsidiary Better Scoop Creamery, CEO Yoon Jin-ho said the Pocheon facility vertically integrates raw milk processing and collaborative automation, a production method instrumental in delivering quality ice cream with a better aftertaste efficiently. "The standard for so-called premium ice cream in Korea today is tier three," Yoon said at the briefing. By Benson's classification, tier three uses powdered milk reconstituted with water, butter rather than cream and artificial emulsifiers and stabilizers. Tier one, where Benson positions itself, uses raw milk, domestic cream and minimal additives. "Our goal is to shift the entire Korean premium ice cream market up by two tiers." The factory tour gave reporters a walk-through of the production line. The facility takes in raw milk at a dedicated tank in the rear, runs it through high-temperature short-time pasteurization, blends it in a Liquiverter mixing tank under high-speed agitation and then ages the mix for 24 to 36 hours, longer than the typical regular ice cream production cycle, to ensure the high fat content disperses evenly. Automation runs through the rest of the process. The facility uses one collaborative robot supplied by Hanwha Robotics, as well as two other industrial robots to handle filling, packaging and palletizing. The collaborative robot fills 10-liter tubs at a rate of 600 to 700 units per day, which production center director Nam Koong-bong said is the first Korean application of robotics in filling ice cream tubs. "The facility operates with roughly 50 to 60 percent of the headcount that a comparable Korean ice cream factory would require, and that floor space is also approximately 10 to 20 percent smaller than it would be without automation," said Nam. Benson opened its first store, Benson Creamery Seoul, in Apgujeong Rodeo in May 2025. The company plans to have 21 stores by early July, 30 stores by the end of 2026 and 100 stores by 2027. "Between 50 and 100 stores is where we expect operating margins to become meaningful," said Chae Chan-young, the business planning team lead. At the tasting that followed the factory tour, research and development team lead Cho Hyun-chul walked reporters through three flavors: Cozy Maple Vanilla Bean, Dark Night Brownie and a new sorbet, Acai Cassis. Cho also conducted a side-by-side weight test against an anonymous leading domestic competitor, showing that a 4-liter container of Benson Cozy Maple Vanilla Bean weighed roughly twice as much as an equivalent volume of the competitor's product. "The same volume, but one is half air," Cho said. Asked about expansion to convenience stores or large discount retailers, Yoon said Benson is keeping such channels "open in principle" but is not pursuing them in the near term because of the pricing pressure and discount cycles those channels impose. The brand will operate exclusively through directly run stores through 2026, with delivery available through Coupang Eats and Baemin. Mobile gifting and online retail integration are planned. The CEO wrapped up the tour by framing the Benson bet in the context of Korea's coffee market transformation. "Twenty or 30 years ago, people in Korea drank powdered instant coffee with creamer at local coffee shops," said Yoon. "Now they expect fresh-roasted beans and real milk from Starbucks. The same shift is going to happen in i...