For over 20 years, we at Ohkinam Chaga Mushroom have sold only three products: Chaga mushroom extract powder, freeze-dried organic vegetable powder, and Enzyme Gold. That is all.
Perhaps for this reason, visitors who come to our website for the first time often wonder, "The company has such a long history, so why are there so few products?" Today, I would like to honestly share the reason why.
Starting Out as a Chaga Mushroom Specialist Company
Our company began preparing to sell Chaga mushroom over 20 years ago, in 2003. Over the course of about two years, we thoroughly reviewed materials on Chaga mushroom and traveled extensively throughout Siberia, its place of origin.
At that time, Chaga mushroom was typically consumed either by steeping chunks in water or as an extract on the level of what one would get from a traditional Korean herbal medicine boiler. This method was inconvenient for those consuming it and also raised concerns about hygiene.
So we collaborated with a local pharmaceutical company in Siberia to develop an extract powder form that maximized the extraction of Chaga mushroom's nutrients while also offering excellent storage stability and safety. In 2005, we established our corporation and began domestic sales. From the very beginning, we had no intention of selling multiple health foods. Our only mindset was, "Let's do just Chaga mushroom, but do it properly."
The Turning Point: 14 Years of Operating a Care Facility
A major turning point came in 2010 for our company, which up to that point had been devoted solely to Chaga mushroom. We became involved in operating a care facility that opened at the foot of Myeongjisan Mountain in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province. I started as deputy director there, and later became director, meeting countless people over the course of a full 14 years, until the facility closed at the end of 2023 due to COVID-19.
Since a care facility is not legally classified as a hospital, we could not provide medical treatment there. So the area in which we poured the greatest effort for our residents was none other than their daily meals and nutritional management.
And it was through these 14 years of on-site experience and urgent necessity that the vegetable powder and enzyme products—the two products we currently sell—came into being. Unlike Chaga mushroom, these two products originated differently, in that they were not initially planned as commercial products but were internal foods provided to the residents of the care facility.
Vegetable Powder, Born from Desperate Need
At every meal, what we constantly told our residents was to eat plenty of vegetables. We built our meal plans around vegetables, and vegetable salad was always one of the basic menu items provided. However, many of the residents at the care facility had significantly reduced metabolism and digestive function, causing them to lose their appetite. In particular, the indigestible dietary fiber abundant in vegetables was difficult for them to digest, making it hard for them to eat enough. We also prepared and provided fresh green vegetable juice every day, but this was not a sufficient alternative either.
After much deliberation, what we began making directly within the care facility was vegetable powder. We separately sourced powders of broccoli, kale, barley sprouts, cabbage, and other vegetables, and had residents mix them into water or soy milk to drink. In the beginning, it was not 100% organic as it is today, and the types of vegetables and blending ratios were quite different from what they are now. However, after more than 10 years of continuously refining the ingredients and blending ratios, the finished freeze-dried organic vegetable powder that we sell today was born.
Enzyme Gold, the Final Piece of the Puzzle
Even after we had somewhat resolved the issue of insufficient nutritional intake through the vegetable powder, we encountered another fundamental obstacle. We frequently observed that for those whose bodies had become weakened, no matter how good the food, Chaga mushroom, or vegetables we provided were, they were unable to properly digest and absorb them.
When the body's enzymes become depleted through prolonged illness and aging, no matter how many good nutrients enter the body, the body cannot properly make use of them. It is like putting in an ingredient with a potential strength of 10, but being able to accomplish only the equivalent of 4 or 5 units of work.
So we increased the amount of enzyme-rich foods in the care facility's meal plan, such as raw vegetables, water kimchi, white kimchi, and dongchimi, and to fill the gaps that these alone could not cover, we prepared a separate enzyme supplement—this was the beginning of what is now Oginam Enzyme Gold. It is a 100% naturally fermented enzyme product made solely by naturally fermenting grains, without adding purified enzymes or chemical additives, and we continue to faithfully uphold this principle to this day.
Three Products, Ultimately One System
By now you may have noticed that the three products we currently sell are not separate, independent items, but rather three pillars that together form a single health system. If Chaga mushroom serves as the central axis that establishes the big picture for the body, vegetable powder plays the role of supplementing the basic nutrition and dietary fiber that is difficult to obtain sufficiently through daily meals alone, while enzymes play the role of enabling all these beneficial components to actually perform their proper function within the body.
This combination was not planned as a marketing strategy from behind a desk; rather, it is the result we directly observed and refined alongside countless people over 14 years in the field of care facility operation.
Why We Don't Add More Products
Occasionally, customers suggest to us, "Don't you sell red ginseng?" or "Why don't you make a collagen product?" To be honest, adding a new product itself would not be difficult. However, I do not want to sell products that I have not personally experienced and confirmed over a long period of time. Most of the customers who come to us are people in urgent need of better health. I simply cannot recommend a product to such people on the level of "I heard this is popular these days."
Being able to focus on just one thing—Chaga mushroom—for over 20 years, and being able to directly confirm the necessity of vegetable powder and enzymes through 14 years of operating a care facility, was a great blessing for us. That experience led to the three products we offer today, and when it comes to these three products, I can speak about them with more confidence than anyone else.
Ultimately, the reason why we at Oginam Chaga Mushroom sell only these three products—Chaga mushroom, vegetable powder, and enzymes—is simple. Rather than building a flashy product lineup, our principle is to honestly sell only what we have directly confirmed and verified through 14 years of personally operating a care facility. We want to be a company that properly makes what is truly necessary, rather than a company that sells a lot. Going forward, we will not lose our sense of responsibility toward these three products, and we will do our best to not fall short of our customers' trust and expectations. Thank you.
- Kinam Oh, kinam_oh@hanmail.net
