The recent report “Korean Agri-Food Export Trends,” from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation shows that the combined export volume of agricultural and marine products rose 4.8 percent year-on-year to 8.3 billion dollars in 2014.

This figure is notable, given that the rate of export increase of the Korean economy was just 2.4 percent for the same period of time.

By nation, the export growth was evident in ASEAN, Chinese and U.S. markets, largely driven by the rising export volume of items such as processed laver (9%), prepared powdered milk (30%), strawberry (12%) and gochujang (18%).

Thanks to the Korean Wave of pop culture items sweeping through Asian countries and other continents, more and more global consumers have begun to pay increasing attention to Korean food as well as cultural products.

The improved images about South Korea helped the export of Korea’s agricultural & marine products and processed foodstuffs to enjoy constant growth in the world markets — up 9.6 percent ($ 800 million) in the USA, up 12.2 percent ($ 450 million) in the EU, and up 1.5 percent, ($ 1.33 billion) in the ASEAN markets during the same period.

In a similar developments, other Korean food processors of canned marine products, snacks, ginseng, instant noodles, and beverages have seen sales of their products continue to grow in overseas markets such as China, where the eating habits of local consumers are became more Westernized due to economic growth and the numbers of middle class consumers is on a constant rise, as well as other Asian markets.

The recent data from the Korea Customs Service found that the Korean laver was mostly popular in the USA (33.1%), followed by China (20.1%)and Japan (18.0%), while Korean ginseng was mostly favored in Hong Kong (27.6%), followed by China (22.2%) and Japan (16.8%). In addition, instant noodles were mainly exported to China (16.9%) and the USA (12.4%), while canned marine products were mainly exported to the USA (40.0%), China (18.5%) and Japan (14.6%), respectively.

Officials of the Korea Customs Service attribute the growing popularity of Korean processed laver and ginseng to the rising global demands for health-promoting foods. Especially, the Korean laver reportedly enjoys steady popularity, appealing to global consumers as a low-calorie, healthy snack.

In order to take advantage of this trend, Korea companies producing a wide variety of processed food products are trying to expand their sales to foreign markets.

• Fruits Jelly Dessert
• Kimchi
• Instant Rice Noodles
• Health Functional Food
• Vegetable and Seaweed Chips
• Oriental Herbal Teas
• Premium Salt
• Chrysanthemum Flower Tea
• Hetsumcho Black Garlic
• Onion Kimchi
• Green Plum Pickle & Undiluted solution
• Korean Camellia Cosmetic & Cooking Oil

 
 
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