Riman Korea is growing it alone: Cosmetics firm farms key ingredient as competition starts in soil

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Riman Korea is growing it alone: Cosmetics firm farms key ingredient as competition starts in soil

Published: 14 Apr. 2026, 07:00

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Green centella asiatica is raised at a smart farm facility in Jeju Island in an undated photo. [RIMAN KOREA]

A carpet of greenery stretches almost endlessly in a greenhouse in Gujwa-eup, Jeju City in Jeju Island.

A total of 64 beds equipped for cultivation, each 18 meters (59 feet) long, filled with green centella asiatica — commonly known as cica — lined the smart farm facility, which resembles a laboratory.

The greenhouse maintains the optimal environment tailored to the plant: a steady temperature of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius (68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit), with climate and humidity optimized for growth and nutrient supply.

The giant centella asiatica, which is now ready for harvest, was nearly large enough to cover a palm after 45 days. Once the stem is cut, a slightly bitter aroma is faintly detectable from saponin. The compound, known to soothe skin and provide antiinflammatory and antioxidant effects, is a key ingredient in cosmetics.

The site produces 11 tons of giant centella asiatica annually and is operated by the beauty company Riman Korea. Built last year, Riman Farm spans 14,800 square meters (159,305 square feet) and includes research facilities, cultivation areas and a visitor zone. Construction and preparation cost about 10 billion won ($6.7 million).

Riman Korea developed the plant as a new variety in 2019, and it now serves as a core ingredient in products from its skincare brands ICD, formerly known as Incellderm, as well as Botalab and the health supplement brand Lifening.

Customers shop at Olive Young store in Seoul in January. [YONHAP]

Why would a cosmetics company get into the farming business? In the K-beauty industry, the real competition no longer starts at packaging and branding — it starts at the soil.

Ingredients are the message in K-beauty. Unlike in the past, when texture, marketing and promotion once drove purchases, ingredients and technology now define product identity.

The shelves at Olive Young, Korea's famous beauty retailer, show that many of its best-selling skincare products advertise themselves through ingredient-focused branding, spotlighting names like heartleaf, carrot, mung bean and PDRN, which is polydeoxyribonucleotides extracted from salmon.

Specific ingredients are included in the product name, while delivery technologies, such as a shot or liposomes, stress their efficacy.

The cosmetics brand Beauty of Joseon's sunscreen, Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics, is a hit on Amazon. It owes much of its appeal to its emphasis on rice and fermented grain ingredients.

A person inspects a product made at Cosmax, a Korean cosmetic manufacturing company, in an undated photo. [COSMAX]

This shift is closely tied to the structure of the K-beauty industry.

For years, the domestic market has grown around original design manufacturer and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies, such as Cosmax and Kolmar Korea.

While their advanced manufacturing capabilities allowed numerous brands to enter the market, they also led to rapid standardization in product quality. As a result, differentiation factors between brands have become increasingly blurred.

As manufacturing prowess has largely leveled across the industry, the question is no longer what a product is — what matters is what goes into it.

Securing a stable supply of the ingredients has become a core competency.

Centella asiatica is a key component in so-called cica cosmetics, yet about 90 percent has historically been imported. Typically sourced as a dried product from countries such as Madagascar and Vietnam, these imports have suffered from inconsistent quality and unstable supply.

From left: A research note about green centella asiatica; Riman Korea's researcher Kim Jung-hwan explains difference about home-grown green centella asiatica and ordinary species. [LEE SO-JIN]

This has driven efforts to develop a fully homegrown “K-centella.”

Korea’s leading cosmetic conglomerate Amorepacific partnered with a biotech company to develop a new variety called Hoin, and Riman Korea, addressed both supply and quality issues with its giant centella asiatica, which contains higher levels of active compounds than conventional varieties.

“Imported dried ingredients often contain weeds or insects, lowering quality, and in some cases have even shown traces of heavy metals,” said Kim Jung-hwan, a researcher at Riman’s research and development facility, Ask Labs. “Now, we process fresh centella immediately after harvest and send it to OEM manufacturers.”

The domestic cosmetics manufacturing industry relied on more than 72 percent imported raw materials until the early 2010s, according to accounting and consulting firm PwC Korea. But the figure has dropped to the 40 percent range as of last year.

It reflects a steady shift toward localization. Companies are putting more emphasis on efforts to secure and technologize raw materials.

A giant green centella asiatica, which was developed after modifying 30 species available in Jeju Island [RIMAN KOREA]

Cosmax cultivates over 100 types of medicinal plants while researching ways to enhance efficacy through microbiome technology. Kolmar Korea has advanced to developing new peptide ingredients using AI.

Korea’s naturally derived ingredients, such as ginseng, green tea, soybeans and centella asiatica, are emerging as key differentiators in the global skincare market, said the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

As sustainability and vegan trends gain traction, the origin and production methods of ingredients have improved.

Riman Korea is streamlining its production with Ask Base for processing ingredients, Ask Labs for developing new varieties and Riman Farm.

Its giant centella asiatica was created after refining more than 30 wild centella species native to Jeju, according to the company. It also said the self-invented species is larger and richer in active compounds such as polyphenols, flavonoids and collagen than standard varieties.

Following its 2019 application for plant variety protection, Riman has secured exclusive usage rights through 2042.

The company is also working with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & BioTechnology to extract strains of chlorella from Bijarim Forest in Jeju. Chlorella is considered a next-generation functional ingredient that could replace lutein derived from marigolds, the supply of which currently relies heavily on imports.

“Out of last year’s 800 billion won in sales, 200 billion won came from overseas markets,” a Riman Korea official said. “The appeal of ‘ingredients grown in Jeju’s pristine environment’ resonates strongly with international consumers.”

An image of Riman Farm [RIMAN KOREA]

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE SO-JIN [[email protected]]