PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩1,140 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Dongsuh is a debt-light food and beverage company that draws much of its profit from a 50-percent stake in Korea's leading coffee-mix maker, now facing both an expanding dividend and simultaneous raw-material and regulatory variables.
2025 consolidated revenue rose to 532.9 billion won from 488.9 billion won in 2024 and operating profit edged up to 45.3 billion won, but the operating margin slipped to 8.5 percent from 9.1 percent.
First-half 2026 revenue was 271.0 billion won with operating profit of 20.2 billion won, extending a pattern of top-line growth alongside lower operating profit than a year earlier.
The profit engine is the coffee joint venture Dongsuh Foods; Maxim Mocha Gold sold about 5.3 billion sticks over the past year while holding the top spot in Korea's coffee-mix market.
Total liabilities of 61.1 billion won against equity of 1,737.3 billion won imply a 3.5 percent debt-to-equity ratio, a near debt-free structure, with 2025 operating cash flow of 106.2 billion won.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission was reported to have conducted an on-site inspection of Dongsuh Foods in March 2026, while international green-bean prices show mixed direction amid record Brazilian crop forecasts and shifting inventories.
Dongsuh is effectively an operating holding company that combines its own food distribution and manufacturing businesses with a stake in a coffee joint venture.
It runs food business, manufacturing, purchasing and export, and other segments, with Dongsuh Foods, large discount chains and online retailers as key counterparties.
The core of its earnings is the coffee joint venture Dongsuh Foods, which was founded in 1968, maintains a joint venture relationship with the US food company Mondelez, and derives a substantial share of revenue from coffee products.
Its flagship Maxim Mocha Gold embodies the manufacturing know-how of the company that developed the world's first coffee mix in 1976 and still holds the number one share of Korea's coffee-mix market as of 2026. Cumulative sales over the past year totaled about 5.3 billion sticks.
On market share, Nielsen data put Dongsuh Foods' coffee-mix share at 88.3 percent in 2021, and a 2024 report indicated roughly 88 percent of the domestic instant mixed-coffee market and about 78 percent of the instant ground-coffee market, with more than 80 percent of revenue coming from mixed coffee.
However, under the contractual arrangement the Maxim brand can only be used in Korea, so Mondelez, which runs coffee-mix businesses outside Korea, effectively constrains Maxim's global expansion.
Partly for that reason, Dongsuh Foods launched Kanu Barista in February 2023 and entered Korea's capsule coffee market as a latecomer behind entrenched players such as Nespresso and Illy.
In its own operations, the food business segment addresses the domestic food-ingredient market through product development and quality control, while the manufacturing segment's tea business maintains steady growth on health and wellness trends alongside imported beverages and digital marketing.
On ownership, the largest shareholder, former chairman Kim Sang-hun, and the owning family hold close to 70 percent of the shares.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩136.9B | ₩11.7B | 8.6% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩137.3B | ₩13.5B | 9.8% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩129.9B | ₩8.4B | 6.4% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩135.3B | ₩10.4B | 7.7% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩135.7B | ₩9.8B | 7.2% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩556.5B | ₩39.2B | ₩167.9B | 7.0% | 11.0% | 5.3% |
| 2023 | ₩489.7B | ₩43.8B | ₩144.9B | 8.9% | 9.0% | 4.4% |
| 2024 | ₩488.9B | ₩44.5B | ₩157.3B | 9.1% | 9.3% | 4.1% |
| 2025 | ₩532.9B | ₩45.3B | ₩144.9B | 8.5% | 8.4% | 3.5% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-04
On an annual basis, revenue fell from 556.5 billion won in 2022 to 489.7 billion won in 2023 and 488.9 billion won in 2024, then recovered to 532.9 billion won in 2025.
Operating profit, by contrast, moved up gradually regardless of top-line swings: 39.2 billion won in 2022, 43.8 billion in 2023, 44.5 billion in 2024 and 45.3 billion in 2025.
The operating margin climbed from 7.0 percent in 2022 to 9.1 percent in 2024 before easing back to 8.5 percent in 2025, meaning the added revenue did not fully translate into margin.
Net profit attributable to owners was 167.9 billion won in 2022, 144.9 billion in 2023, 157.3 billion in 2024 and 144.9 billion in 2025, more than triple operating profit, reflecting equity-method income from the coffee joint venture and financial income.
Quarterly revenue was steady in the mid-130 billion won range, from 136.9 billion won in the second quarter of 2025 to 135.7 billion won in the second quarter of 2026.
Operating profit, however, dropped from 13.5 billion won in the third quarter of 2025 to 8.4 billion in the fourth, then recovered only modestly to 10.4 billion in the first quarter of 2026 and 9.8 billion in the second.
As a result, first-half 2026 revenue rose to 271.0 billion won while operating profit was 20.2 billion won and net profit attributable to owners 83.9 billion won, a weaker margin than the same period of 2025; a market data provider likewise noted a 14.0 percent year-on-year decline in first-half 2026 consolidated operating profit, with food-ingredient revenue rising but profitability limited by higher raw material prices.
Summing the four quarters from the third quarter of 2025 through the second quarter of 2026 gives revenue of 538.2 billion won, operating profit of 42.1 billion won and net profit attributable to owners of 144.5 billion won, so the top line is at a record-like level while operating profit trails the full-year 2025 figure.
Financial stability is a separate axis: at end-2025 total liabilities were 61.1 billion won against equity of 1,737.3 billion won for a 3.5 percent debt-to-equity ratio, and operating cash flow held above 100 billion won at 118.1 billion in 2023, 113.2 billion in 2024 and 106.2 billion in 2025.
Korea's coffee-mix market went through a long contraction. After peaking at 1.35 trillion won in 2012, it shrank to 938.2 billion won in 2016 and 786.0 billion won in 2022, as the spread of coffee shops and home and office coffee machines shifted demand toward brewed coffee. Recently, however, the direction changed.
Domestic coffee-mix sales volume rose 0.5 percent in 2024, the first rebound since 2014. High inflation is cited as a reason for the turn. On the other side, substitute categories keep growing.
Euromonitor-based estimates put Korea's capsule coffee market at 369.5 billion won in 2022, 399.8 billion in 2023 and an expected 404.1 billion in 2024. In competitive terms coffee mix is essentially a one-player market, with Maxim accounting for roughly 90 percent of it.
The raw-material cycle is the key cost variable. StoneX projected a global coffee surplus of about 10 million bags in 2026 and estimated Brazil's 2026/27 harvest at 75.3 million bags, up 20.8 percent year on year.
Yet December-delivery arabica futures closed at 3.1285 dollars per pound on New York's ICE on August 28, 2026, amid forecasts that 2026/27 output would expand 13 to 18 percent year on year, leaving a mix of downtrend and rebound in place.
Product strategy pairs defense of the legacy coffee-mix franchise with a response to low-sugar and health demand. In 2025 Dongsuh Foods launched a Maxim Mocha Gold zero-sugar coffee mix using alternative sweeteners instead of sugar and starch syrup. Brand investment continues as well.
The company recently unveiled a new advertisement featuring actor Park Bo-young under the tagline of a soul coffee for Koreans, and it keeps rotating the concept of the Mocha Gold pop-up cafes it has run since 2015 in cities including Busan, Jeonju, Gunsan and Gyeongju.
Structural constraints remain on the growth path: the joint venture structure with a US food company is cited as making overseas expansion difficult, and while the company is widening its footprint into ready-to-drink coffee, that market is also fiercely competitive.
On costs, Dongsuh Foods stated that import prices for green beans and the exchange rate are highly volatile amid geopolitical instability, and that any price adjustment would be judged by watching market conditions.
A regulatory variable is separately in motion: the Korea Fair Trade Commission dispatched investigators to Dongsuh Foods' Mapo headquarters in Seoul on March 16, 2026 to collect materials, examining whether the company abused a market-dominant position to set prices unfairly.
On shareholder returns, the 2025 introduction of an interim dividend together with a larger year-end dividend has widened the pace of dividend increases, and no separate quantitative revenue or profit guidance from the company has been confirmed.
The first thing to note about Dongsuh's earnings multiple is the composition of its net profit.
Because net profit attributable to owners runs more than three times operating profit, the multiple is driven more by swings in equity-method income from the coffee joint venture and by financial income than by the profitability of its own distribution and manufacturing operations.
The share price sits at a premium to book equity, a level often discussed alongside the fact that much of the asset base consists of debt-free equity and the joint venture stake.
On dividends, the company is regarded as a representative high-dividend name in the food industry, having introduced an interim dividend while also raising the year-end payout, and market data show both the dividend yield and the payout ratio higher in 2025 than in 2024, with roughly the upper-70-percent range of net profit distributed.
That said, much of the dividend capacity depends on dividends and equity-method income flowing up from the joint venture, so payout durability is tied directly to the earnings power of the coffee business.
The upshot is that potential margin relief from softer raw-material prices and regulatory and competitive risk are embedded in the same multiple, and which side carries more weight depends on the observable trend in quarterly margins.
PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-09-04
Coffee mix is effectively a one-player market. Nielsen data put Dongsuh Foods' coffee-mix share at 88.3 percent in 2021, and the company still held the number one share of Korea's coffee-mix market as of 2026. Maxim Mocha Gold's cumulative sales over the past year totaled about 5.3 billion sticks. In terms of pricing power and distribution leverage, such share functions as a defensive earnings base.
At end-2025, total liabilities of 61.1 billion won against equity of 1,737.3 billion won left the debt-to-equity ratio at just 3.5 percent. That extends a decline from 5.3 percent in 2022 to 4.4 percent in 2023 and 4.1 percent in 2024.
Operating cash flow stayed above 100 billion won at 118.1 billion in 2023, 113.2 billion in 2024 and 106.2 billion in 2025. A notable feature is that interest costs are not exposed to shifts in the rate environment.
Domestic coffee-mix sales volume rose 0.5 percent in 2024, the first rebound since 2014. High inflation is cited as the reason for the turn. On raw materials, StoneX projected an approximately 10 million bag global coffee surplus in 2026 and a 20.8 percent year-on-year increase in Brazil's 2026/27 harvest. The scope for lighter cost burdens is presented as the bullish argument on margins.
First-half 2026 revenue rose to 271.0 billion won, but operating profit stalled at 20.2 billion won. Quarterly operating profit fell from 13.5 billion won in the third quarter of 2025 to 8.4 billion in the fourth, then recovered only to 10.4 billion in the first quarter of 2026 and 9.8 billion in the second.
The annual operating margin also slipped from 9.1 percent in 2024 to 8.5 percent in 2025. Commentary notes that food-ingredient revenue rose but profitability was limited by higher raw material prices.
Under the contractual arrangement the Maxim brand can be used only in Korea, so Mondelez effectively blocks Maxim's global expansion. Reporting has also noted that a domestically focused business, hit by a deteriorating home market, left revenue flat for more than a decade.
The company is widening into ready-to-drink coffee, but that market is also fiercely competitive. Its own revenue likewise fell from 556.5 billion won in 2022 to the high-480 billion won range in 2023 and 2024.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission conducted an on-site inspection of Dongsuh Foods, the top-share coffee-mix company, and is focusing on whether it abused a market-dominant position to set prices unfairly when it raised shipment prices for products such as Maxim and Kanu in late 2022 and in May 2023.
A violation can draw a fine of up to 6 percent of related revenue. Dongsuh Foods is classified as a market-dominant operator under the law given its overwhelming share. Depending on the outcome, the ability to pass through costs during periods of rising input prices could be constrained.
Coffee input prices reverse direction frequently. In June 2026 arabica futures fell to their lowest level in about a year and a half on forecasts of a record Brazilian crop, while December-delivery contracts rebounded to 3.1285 dollars per pound on August 28.
The company itself noted high volatility in green-bean import prices and the exchange rate. If raw materials and currency move adversely together, quarterly margin volatility increases.
With the largest shareholder and the owning family holding close to 70 percent, the free float available in the market is limited. Reporting has also discussed the dividend expansion in connection with funding for share purchases by third-generation family members.
At the March 2026 annual general meeting, two standing directors and one outside director were appointed, reorganizing the management lineup. The entanglement of succession and stake-transfer decisions with dividend policy is a separate item to monitor.
The coffee-mix market shrank from 1.35 trillion won in 2012 to 786.0 billion won in 2022, attributed to the spread of coffee shops and home and office coffee machines. The capsule coffee market, by contrast, was estimated to grow each year from 2022.
In capsules, Dongsuh Foods stands as a latecomer against incumbents such as Nespresso and Illy. If the 2024 volume rebound proves temporary, the long-term demand curve could turn down again.
Third-quarter 2026 report filing. The checkpoint is whether the margin, with first-half operating profit stuck at 20.2 billion won, recovers alongside steadier input costs and whether quarterly revenue holds in the mid-130 billion won range.
Progress and any sanction in the Korea Fair Trade Commission's probe into Dongsuh Foods' pricing. Because a violation could draw a fine of up to 6 percent of related revenue, the outcome itself is the item to verify.
The year-end dividend resolution and the continuity of interim and quarterly dividend policy. Since the 2025 introduction of an interim dividend came with a larger year-end payout, whether the total amount and payment structure are maintained is the point to watch.
Disclosure of confirmed full-year 2026 results. Key figures are whether operating profit, at 42.1 billion won over the latest four quarters, recovers toward the 45.3 billion won posted for full-year 2025, and whether net profit attributable to owners holds in the 140 billion won range.
Brazil's 2027/28 flowering conditions and the trend in ICE arabica inventories. Whether forecasts of a 13 to 18 percent year-on-year production expansion in 2026/27 are confirmed by the actual harvest is the reference point for cost direction.
Dongsuh combines its own food distribution and manufacturing operations with a stake in a coffee joint venture, and its defining feature is a profit mix in which net profit attributable to owners exceeds operating profit more than threefold.
Revenue recovered to 532.9 billion won in 2025 from 488.9 billion won in 2024 and operating profit edged up to 45.3 billion won, but the operating margin fell from 9.1 percent to 8.5 percent.
In the first half of 2026, revenue of 271.0 billion won came with operating profit of just 20.2 billion won, and the sum of the latest four quarters' operating profit also trails the full-year 2025 figure.
The bullish case rests on a coffee-mix share that reached 88.3 percent in 2021, the first volume rebound in a decade in 2024, a 3.5 percent debt-to-equity ratio and operating cash flow above 100 billion won.
The bearish case rests on the growth ceiling implied by the domestic-only restriction on the Maxim brand, the Korea Fair Trade Commission's pricing probe, and competition from substitute categories such as capsules and ready-to-drink coffee.
With input prices swinging between record-crop forecasts in Brazil and shifting inventories, whether margins recover can only be verified through quarterly results. This report is for informational purposes and contains no buy or sell opinion and no target price.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
This content is AI analysis of market data and web search results, provided for information only. It is not a solicitation or recommendation to invest. Investment decisions and their consequences are the investor's own responsibility. Data may be delayed or contain errors.