After TeamFresh – Reshaping Korea’s Dawn Delivery Market

Logistics & Supply Chain Strategy Briefing

STREAMLINE: After TeamFresh – Reshaping Korea’s Dawn Delivery Market

(June 2, 2025)

The exit of TeamFresh, once the dominant force in Korea’s B2B dawn delivery sector with over 90% market share, has triggered a significant shake-up across the entire logistics and commerce ecosystem. What happens when the main pillar of an entire delivery segment collapses? The industry is now confronting that question head-on.

Let’s explore what comes next in a market where dawn deliveries are no longer a given.

❶ Point of View | TeamFresh’s Exit Leaves a Void

TeamFresh, the leading dawn delivery logistics provider, has effectively gone offline.
Although restructuring and asset sales are underway to relaunch operations, insiders agree: a full recovery is unlikely.

Major clients are already gone, and the business model — built on underpriced contracts — makes regaining trust and liquidity doubly difficult.
TeamFresh’s collapse signals not just a corporate crisis, but a structural turning point for Korea’s entire dawn delivery market.

❷ Inside the Move | Shippers Are Splitting: Switch or Shut Down

Former TeamFresh clients are responding in two distinct ways:

Switch to a new partner

Exit dawn delivery altogether

Those who switched:

-. PetFriends → JD Logistics (Korea)

-. Pulmuone Shop → KurlyNextMile

-. The Banchan& → Kakao Mobility

-. Others → CJ Logistics, Lotte Global Logistics, Coupang, etc.

Those who exited:
Many smaller or medium-sized brands, frustrated with the low ROI of dawn delivery, chose to shut down the service completely.

Editor’s Note: Notably, price was a major barrier.

TeamFresh offered exceptionally low rates that few logistics firms could match, leaving many shippers struggling to find alternatives at a similar cost.

❸ Business Playbook | The Gravity of Aggregation

As expected, volumes are quickly consolidating toward Rocket Fresh (Coupang).

Coupang now owns the largest share of Korea’s dawn delivery market and is leveraging its national-scale infrastructure.
In Q1 2024, its dawn delivery sales volume grew 70% YoY — a testament to growing preference from both consumers and suppliers.

Future Scenarios:

-. Coupang Monopoly – Market dominance through scale and stability

-. Dual Power Structure – Kurly, Naver, SSG-CJ, and Oasis counter Coupang’s lead

-. Market Contraction – More brands exit dawn delivery entirely in favor of other fulfillment models

For many, dawn delivery is no longer a must-have, but a cost center under review.

❹ Market Impact | A Fragile Ecosystem Exposed

TeamFresh’s downfall reflects a broader vulnerability in Korea’s logistics sector:

-. Post-COVID demand stagnation

-. Category expansion plateau

-. Labor cost pressures in time-sensitive windows

-. Persistent financial strain for 3PLs and retailers

For many brands, the economics simply didn’t make sense anymore.
Dawn delivery’s complexity — from handling fresh/chilled goods to tight delivery windows — was too high a burden relative to its revenue impact.

Editor’s Note: In 2025, logistics is no longer judged by availability — but by sustainability.

❺ Competitor Matrix | Who’s Filling the Gap?

Company	Strategy	Dawn Delivery Strength	Reliability	Market Momentum
Coupang	Rocket Fresh, nationwide coverage	●●●●●	●●●●●	Rising
KurlyNextMile	Brand-focused B2B integration	●●●○○	●●●○○	Steady
Kakao Mobility	Motorcycle-based same-day service	●●○○○	●●○○○	Selective
CJ Logistics	Nationwide integrated logistics	●●●○○	●●●○○	Limited
Lotte Global Logis	Retail ecosystem logistics	●●○○○	●●○○○	Uncertain

❻ Beyond the Numbers | Same-Day & Quick Commerce to the Rescue?

With dawn delivery losing ground, same-day and quick commerce are gaining strategic importance.

New contenders:

-. Kurly, Naver → Accelerating quick commerce

-. Emart → Relaunching rapid delivery

-. LotteOn → Scheduled to enter same-day segment in June

-. Baemin BMart → Still a dominant player, but faces growing competition

While motorcycle-based services face structural challenges — limited capacity, high cost, and time restrictions — they are increasingly viewed as the only viable alternative to dawn delivery.

Still, to scale meaningfully, quick commerce players must tackle operational costs (e.g., MFC infrastructure) and expand product categories beyond food and essentials.

❼ Summary Insight | The New Morning Playbook

TeamFresh’s collapse has reshuffled the dawn delivery landscape.

Coupang is the clear front-runner, but market dominance raises concerns of over-concentration.

Quick commerce and same-day services offer hope, but come with logistical trade-offs.

For shippers, the focus is shifting: from “how fast” to “how stable.”

The dawn of 2025 is less about speed, more about structure.