Potato bread sold at Cafe Potato Field. /Kim Jong-yeon, video media reporter
‘Potato Bread’, which started at ‘Cafe Potato Field’ in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, is a hit product with annual sales exceeding 20 billion won in just 3 years of domestic sales. What is as famous as potato bread is the co-representatives of a couple in their 30s who created it. Although they were not born with a ‘golden spoon’ in their mouths, they have attracted attention as representatives of young people who have achieved success through their own efforts and have been introduced to various media outlets. Lee Mi-so (32), CEO of Batt, an agricultural corporation, attended the ‘Startup Korea Strategy Meeting’ presided over by President Seok-yeol Yoon at the Blue House Guesthouse last month as a representative of a local company, and Choi Dong-nyeo, CEO of C&L, an agricultural cooperative corporation of the same age, is the youngest member of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Selected as a new knowledge farmer.
Those who did are currently engaged in a legal battle. Her wife, CEO Lee Mi-so, applied for a temporary injunction to ban the sale of potato bread to the corporation of her husband, CEO Dong-nyeok Choi. She also filed for divorce. Her husband said, “I feel like I’m being ousted,” and her wife said, “I wanted to resolve it amicably, but it’s unfortunate that it couldn’t be done.”
Lee Mi-so, CEO of Potato Field./Kim Jong-yeon, video media reporter
◇Who contributed more to the development of potato bread?
According to Chosun.com’s coverage on the 23rd, the wife filed for divorce at the end of July. In her complaint, her wife cited differences in her personality and breakdown in communication as reasons for her divorce. She says the two have no children. As for the division of her property, she said, “Plaintiff (wife)’s contribution is more than 90%.” She explained that this was because CEO Lee’s father paid for the land and building of ‘Cafe Potato Field’ and the capital of ‘Bat’ Co., Ltd. The complaint states that the wife’s father always ordered her to “make bread that looks exactly like potatoes,” and that she was “willing to pay 1 billion won to the defendant (her husband).”
The husband’s position is that it is unfair. An official on the husband’s side said, “Although they were known as a ‘young farmer couple,’ the wife, who majored in fashion design, was far from farming,” adding, “Potato bread was born from the idea of the husband, who graduated from Korea University of Agriculture and Fisheries, and it has been around for a long time. “My wife also admitted it on air,” he said. She continued, “She was recognized by the investment association as having a corporate value of 85 billion won, but 1 billion won is the level of eviction.”
Lee Mi-so, who appeared on ‘The Goblin Who Was Deprived of Wisdom’ broadcast last March, is talking about the idea of potato bread. /Discovery Channel
CEO Lee, who appeared on a TV show last March, was asked, ‘Where did you get the idea for potato bread?’ He responded, “Because of the prejudice that people hate potatoes, I kept adding things to potatoes, like sweet potato potato garlic bread and potato chicken rib pie.” “My husband looked at this for two years and said, ‘Put potatoes in it, shape it into a potato, make potatoes,’” she replied.
◇Can’t I sell the potato bread my husband used to make?
The wife said, “I said this because I feel sad when my husband doesn’t talk about himself on TV.” She also said that she “started her business without any of her husband’s money being invested. “My parents even paid for the cost of developing potato bread,” she said, adding, “The complaint was only written by a lawyer, and in fact, it was proposed to divide billions of won worth of assets, but the arrangement fell through.” She later said that what prompted her wife to file the lawsuit was the “potato bread non-payment incident” that occurred in early June.
The breakup between the two led to a legal battle over potato bread. It is said that the business has been run so far by a corporation in which her husband has management rights, making potato bread and supplying it to her wife’s company.
Choi Dong-nyeol, CEO of C&L./Reporter Lee Min-ah, Chosun Biz
While the two were preparing for divorce, the husband requested that the unit price of potato bread be increased by 150%, but the wife did not accept it. The wife claims that her husband suddenly stopped delivering the potato bread and notified her of termination of her contract. Her wife filed a preliminary injunction in court to ban her from selling her potato bread, saying her husband could sell her product without permission in violation of her patent rights.
Regarding this, the husband said, “So far, we have entered into a unit price contract to the extent of giving up profits and have been operating in a way that increases the profits of Batt Co., Ltd.” and “Until now, we have viewed it as a single corporation, so it has not been a big problem.” However, it is said that this became a problem as the two went their separate ways. He refuted, “My wife knows that if we don’t adjust the unit price, we will have to continue to incur losses, and we also sent an official letter,” adding, “But since I said that it was my situation, I had no choice but to cut off the supply of potato bread.”
He said, “I am also the patent holder of potato bread, and now I am making bread differently from that recipe.” He added, “Nevertheless, the application for an injunction to ban the sale of potato bread seems like an attempt to stop me and kill me.”
◇After the lawsuit, the future of potato bread
A commemorative group photo taken by employees of Field Co., Ltd., an agricultural corporation that produces potato bread, in the garden of Chuncheon Potato Field Cafe in 2021. /field provided
My husband said, “This is where I devoted my entire life from my late 20s to my early 30s, and I am very upset that it is being organized like this.” However, he said, “As a rural planner, I am also preparing another plan.”
The wife recently sent an email to about 200 employees regarding the interruption of her husband’s potato bread supply, saying, “I was devastated because it involved a personal relationship, but I was able to move forward day by day because the crew was with me.” He said, “I hope that all of this will be completed as soon as possible in good health,” and “Our insides are stronger than ever.”
