Korean food and restaurants going global
March 30, 2013 Leave a comment
2013-03-29 16:33
Korean food and restaurants going global
By Park Si-soo
This is Korea’s next export item: food. A growing number of local food companies are carving out business footprints overseas, seeking to conquer dining tables around the world. The trend is facilitated by homegrown restaurant chains that are increasingly flexing their muscle to conquer what gourmets call “hubs of international cuisine” such as New York, London and Paris. Several companies have already set up sales networks in more than 60 countries and are trying to cement their presence by establishing manufacturing bases there. While their overseas sales have so far generated income from China, Japan, America and Southeast Asian countries that have many Korean immigrants, they are now trying to diversify revenue sources by taking advantage of the boom in Korean pop culture that is sweeping Russia, Europe and Latin American countries. The Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. (aT) said the country exported kimchi worth $3.87 million to the U.S. last year, up 38.6 percent from the previous year. Shipments of red pepper paste to the U.S. surged by 24.9 percent during the same period, aT said. Exports of Korean ice cream to Brazil jumped a whopping 102.2 percent last year, it noted, saying its popularity is quickly spreading to surrounding countries. “We have a good start,” a spokesman for the company said. “I believe food products will emerge as a new growth engine for the country along with semiconductors, smartphones and automobiles.”
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