SEOUL, March 16 — Every 10 seconds a Cuckoo rice cooker is sold and every minute, a Cuckoo water purifier is sold in South Korea.

Just how omnipresent the home appliance giant is in its birthplace? With a 100 per cent brand awareness, you can stop any Korean on the street and the household name would require no introduction — it is the number one rice cooker brand in South Korea.

For the past 40 years, Cuckoo is recognised as a global leader in the home appliance industry and although it only reached Malaysian shores in 2014, its successful expansion into new markets in Southeast Asia is nothing short of impressive.

Helmed by KC Hoe, Cuckoo International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd chief executive officer, in three short years the Korean brand has accumulated 230,000 customers, opened 200 stores in Malaysia, achieved a 190 per cent sales growth last year (in 2016 it recorded a sales growth of 600 per cent) and made RM200 million last year.

Cuckoo Electronics Co Ltd CEO Brian Koo Bon Hak said this year, the company has a sales target of US$1.5 billion (RM5.87 billion).

But beyond impressive numbers, the highlight is the people who have always been the centre of the socially responsible organisation.

In 1998 when founder Koo Ja Shin took a bold step to convert his electrical equipment manufacturing business into an independent brand during the financial crisis as a move to boost the job market.

Today, that philosophy remains.

“As part of our social responsibility, we created over 20,000 career opportunities for Malaysians using our platform,” Hoe told Malay Mail.

With a goal of bringing happiness in life and creating a healthy home, Cuckoo allows families to enjoy alkaline water purifiers from as low as RM60 a month.

The hallmark of its Malaysian business model is a revolutionary rent-to-own plan that lets customers choose the amount they can afford and the duration they are able to commit to.

“We believe the core reason is that consumers love the flexibility of their monthly budget to enjoy clean and healthy water,” he said.

On a recent visit to Cuckoo’s rice cooker factory in Yangsan, near Busan, some 156 journalists from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei were given a rare opportunity to observe how the brand’s star products are made.

For the uninitiated, Cuckoo has invented a rice cooker that is able to germinate brown rice, also known as Gaba rice to increase its nutritional properties using a smart algorithm that significantly cuts down the sprouting process.

With 700 workers spread out in two plants, Plant 2 churns out one unit of multi cooker every 18 seconds — that’s 11,000 a day and 300,000 a month.

In an industry where automated machines are replacing human labour, our guide informed us that Cuckoo prefers manual labour because they trust people more than machines and believe there are enough workers per assembly line to spot mistakes.

Thus far, Cuckoo’s rice cookers and multi cookers have a zero-defect record thanks to stringent testing.

From Busan, we travelled on the high-speed train to Seoul for just under three hours, where the Siheung plant is located.

This is where Cuckoo’s living appliances, such as its beloved alkaline water purifiers, are manufactured.

With a total production capacity of one million units per year, the Siheung plant produces 7,000 units of water purifiers a day — similar to its multi cookers, the water purifier plant has a 0.02 per cent defect rate.

At the research and development department, Cuckoo’s new production team has the task of widening the brand’s product line and it is also where its patented nano filter was developed.

The highlight of the visit was none other than the brand’s 40th-anniversary celebration which took place at Seoul Dragon City.

Cuckoo also unveiled its global brand ambassador, Lee Seung-gi, best known in Malaysia for playing the lead in Netflix drama A Korean Odyssey.

The multi-hyphenate Korean singer, actor, host and entertainer serenaded some 500 guests with two songs, Return and Unfinished Story.

At the gala event, Cuckoo announced the launch of its India, Indonesia and Vietnam offices and its plan to build a RM100 million factory in Malaysia to meet the overwhelming demand for its water purifiers.

Hoe said the new factory would create more job opportunities for Malaysians.