K-School Meals Service to Reach KRW 1 Trillion in Overseas Sales in Three Years

Hyundai Green serves group meals to three more places in the first half
Samsung Wels targets Eastern European markets on a full scale
Ourhome targets 10% growth this year

As the domestic meal-service market stagnates due to population decline, food service companies are seeking a breakthrough by expanding their overseas operations. Industry sources predict that the overseas sales of three major food service companies (Samsung Welstory, Ourhome and Hyundai Green Food), which reached around KRW 700 billion last year, will increase to over KRW 1 trillion by 2029.

Hyundai Green Food plans to operate three group meal-service facilities at a large global manufacturing company’s new plants in the USA and Mexico in the first half of this year. These facilities serve 4,450 meals daily. The company operates approximately 90 meal service facilities in seven countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the USA, China, and Mexico. Its overseas sales, which stood at only KRW 53.8 billion in 2021, recorded KRW 118.7 billion last year, representing an average annual growth rate of 22%. Industry sources estimate this figure to reach even higher this year.
Samsung Welstory, Korea’s leading meal-service provider, is also accelerating its overseas business more aggressively this year. The company has a group catering business in three countries ― China, Vietnam, and Hungary ― and is actively targeting Hungary as a bridgehead to enter Europe. Its strategy is to expand its business not only to seven neighboring countries including Slovakia and Romania, but also to other European regions. Samsung Welstory earns approximately 10~12% of its total sales overseas, and its goal is to increase this to 30% by 2033. Samsung Welstory’s overseas sales in 2024 reached KRW 322 billion, but industry sources estimate that it will exceed KRW 350 billion this year.
Ourhome is the only company in the industry that is also speeding up its entry into the North American in-flight meals market. Since acquiring HARKO, an LA-based American in-flight meals company, from Hanjin Heavy Industries Holdings in 2018, it has been providing 15,000 in-flight meals a day to airline companies in more than 10 countries, including Singapore and Japan. This is estimated to grow by more than 10% this year due to the smooth operation of the HARKO in-flight meal business, following its overseas sales of KRW 235.6 billion in 2024.

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