2024-04-06 08:14:31
[위클리 리포트] K food reaching the world
Kimchi exports double in 7 years… Among 92 exporting countries, growth in the US is steepest.
Last year alone, it recorded $39.99 million… Recommended by celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson
Attention as a health food during the pandemic… Domestic companies enter large supermarkets such as Walmart
We strive to develop products customized for local people.
《“Kimchi” Even Hollywood actors fell in love with it
Exports of the most Korean food, kimchi, are increasing significantly every year. It is gaining explosive popularity, especially in the United States. The success in the United States, which is the world’s largest consumer market and home to diverse races and tastes, is said to be evidence of the potential for kimchi to expand throughout the world.
“Maybe I like kimchi more than Koreans.”
American Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson, who is also well-known in Korea for her role in the movie ‘Avengers’, is a self-proclaimed kimchi enthusiast. He is said to frequently visit Korean restaurants in New York and Los Angeles (LA) even while filming, and is considered a person who played a major role in increasing the popularity of kimchi in the United States. Another famous actor, Gwyneth Paltrow, is also a well-known kimchi lover. He became a hot topic by confessing that he was infected with the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) during the pandemic and saying, “I managed my health through kimchi.”
As interest in K-food grows, the global popularity of Korea’s representative food, kimchi, is also increasing day by day. In particular, it is showing rapid growth in the United States, the world’s largest consumer market, thanks to recommendations from celebrities. The domestic kimchi industry predicts that in a few years, the United States will surpass Japan and become the No. 1 kimchi export market.》
● Korean kimchi grows rapidly in the United States
According to the Korea International Trade Association on the 5th, total kimchi exports last year amounted to $155.6 million (about 209.7 billion won), a 10.6% increase from the previous year ($141 million). It doubled in 7 years from $79 million in 2016. Export countries are also continuously expanding. According to the Korea International Trade Association, last year, kimchi was exported to 92 countries, the highest number ever.
Among kimchi exporting countries, the fastest growing country is the United States. Last year, kimchi exported to the United States amounted to $39.99 million, a 37.4% increase from the previous year. This is in contrast to Japan, which was previously the No. 1 export destination, only growing by 0.8% during the same period. This is why there are predictions that the United States will soon take the top spot as a kimchi exporter.
In fact, the ‘closed price’ of kimchi for Korea’s No. 1 company, which accounts for 53% of kimchi exports, was 32% in total exports to the United States last year, surpassing Japan (30%) for the first time. In 2019, the share of exports was 43% to Japan and 15% to the United States. The difference was reversed by 28 percentage points in four years. CJ CheilJedang’s ‘Bibigo’ kimchi also saw a 44% increase in U.S. sales last year, outperforming Japan’s 31% growth.
● “Healthy yet hip food”
The background to the success of kimchi in the U.S. market is the result of a combination of companies’ active market development in a situation where consumers’ interest in health foods is increasing due to COVID-19.
In 2020, Professor Jean Bousquet’s research team at the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Montpellier in France discovered that countries that mainly eat ‘fermented cabbage’ had a lower COVID-19 fatality rate in the process of studying the number of COVID-19 deaths and differences in dietary habits by country. At a seminar held in commemoration of Kimchi Day in November of the same year, Professor Bousquet said, “The protein produced during the fermentation process of pickled cabbage mixed with red pepper powder and garlic creates immune cells and prevents viruses.” The efficacy of the virus was mentioned again. In the United States, where interest in healthy food increased during the pandemic, the immunity-boosting effects of kimchi were bound to be attractive.
Domestic kimchi companies took advantage of this atmosphere and began active marketing. Daesang opened stores one after another in local U.S. supermarkets such as Walmart and Costco. Through this, demand that had been concentrated in large cities such as LA and New York spread to the central inland region. An official from Daesang said, “It is of special significance to enter a large supermarket with a distribution network throughout the United States,” adding, “It shows that the popularity of Korean kimchi has grown to the point where it has overcome the difficult barrier to entry into American supermarkets.”
Efforts were also made to promote kimchi as a luxurious Korean fermented food. Daesang held its first kimchi event, ‘Jongga Kimchi Blast’, in Paris, France in January 2020 and has been holding events in Europe and the United States every year. One of the main events, the kimchi cooking competition, was run in collaboration with ‘Le Cordon Bleu’, one of the world’s best cooking schools.
● ‘Vegan’ and ‘gluten-free’ kimchi have also been developed.
Domestic kimchi companies plan to expand exports by developing additional kimchi products that suit the tastes of people around the world. In line with the expansion of the overseas vegetarian trend, CJ CheilJedang is manufacturing ‘Bibigo Plan Table Kimchi’ made with only vegetable ingredients without salted fish and exporting it to Singapore and Australia. In addition, ‘Bibigo Room Temperature Kimchi’ was launched last year using ‘fermentation control technology’ that maintains the appropriate level of ripening while being transported to the exporting country. This product was sold at Costco in Europe. In Vietnam, since 2016, a local factory has been making cilantro kimchi containing cilantro, which Vietnamese people like, and less spicy kimchi.
Daesang will complete a kimchi factory in the U.S. in 2022 and is releasing products targeting various tastes in the U.S., including gluten-free and vegan kimchi. In January of this year, we launched kimchi paste and spread products that reflect local eating habits in the United States and Europe. A Daesang official said, “This is a product created in an effort to combine kimchi with the Western culture of eating bread or biscuits spread on something.” In Europe, Daesang is also building a kimchi factory in Krakow, Poland, with the goal of completion in 2025.
An official in the kimchi industry said, “Popularity in the United States (where there are many different races) is an opportunity to spread the popularity of kimchi around the world,” adding, “Domestic companies should expand into products that suit the tastes of people around the world, such as vegan, halal, and kosher.” “We are picking up speed,” he said.
Reporter Jeong Seo-young [email protected]
2024-04-06 08:14:31