Hinok Skips Amazon and TikTok, Targets Michelin Restaurants

Hinok products sit today in 70 percent of Korean Michelin-starred restaurants in New York, plus SSAL and Benu in San Francisco. That footprint is the core of a distribution strategy that deliberately avoids the usual K-beauty playbook of TikTok Shop and Amazon.

"We don't have TikTok shop, so we are not following the playbook of K-beauty brands," said Jewoo Park, chief executive officer of EFG, Hinok's U.S. partner. "We intentionally don't want to be on Amazon and TikTok Shop. There will be a time when we will want to be in those channels, but first, we wanted to be intentional with where we are placed and where customers experience us."

Who is behind Hinok?

Sohee Park founded the brand in 2020. The line spans hand, body, home and hair care. Its bestselling products include:

• The Room Spray
• The Hand Wash
• The Hand Balm
• The Hand and Body Lotion, made with Jeju Hinoki Cypress

Hinok soft-launched in the U.S. late last year. The entry ran through collaborations with New York-based chefs and a partnership with retailer La Garçonne. The brand opened its direct-to-consumer business in the U.S. earlier this year and is now also available on Fwrd.

Why hospitality before retail?

The founder's team wants first impressions formed in high-end settings, not on a feed. "If you visit those high-end restaurants, the overall experience is great," Jewoo Park said. "Those experiences are the ones that we wanted to create, and those are the first impressions we wanted to get from customers before retail."

Hotels, restaurants, membership clubs and high-end grocers remain the expansion priority. Jewoo Park said Hinok is already in talks with several boutique hotels across Europe, additional restaurants on the West Coast and a private-members club in Florida.

What does this change for the customer?

The hospitality channel has delivered key consumer insights, specifically on differences between the U.S. and South Korean customer, alongside feedback from Hinok's own website.

"In [South] Korea, our core customers care about wellness, health and how things are made, and many of them are artists, architects and people who love literature," said Sohee Park, founder and chief executive officer. "In the U.S., what we're seeing so far is similar. They look for gentle products made from real ingredients, and they feel that what they use every day shapes how they live, not just what it does."

How fast will Hinok grow?

The founder says U.S. response has outrun her expectations. "We're still early, and we're listening closely," she said. "The response in the U.S. has come much faster than I expected. In less than a year, we're already hearing a lot from customers. We want to find more ways to meet them, but we're choosing not to chase speed. We want to take the time to understand our customers and talk with them directly. Growth will come from that."

The next test is whether boutique hotels and private clubs in Europe and the U.S. can carry the brand into wholesale scale without diluting the curated positioning that separates it from the K-beauty pack.