Korea's Food Industry Brief 2019
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KOREA’S FOOD MARKET KOREA’S FOOD INDUSTRY BRIEF 2019 409.9 HIGHLIGHTS South Korea’s imports of Swiss food and agricultural products in 2017 totaled CHF 68.85 billion sized market for the Food Industry (CHF) million, up 30 percent from the previous year. The Korea-Switzerland (EFTA states) Free Trade Agreement took effect in 2006. Korea’s overall food self-sufficiency rate stood at 50.9% in 2016 and it means that the country is considerably dependent on food imports to meet local demands. Even there are lots of competitions for imported food items in the Korean market, the Swiss food products would get more export opportunities in the 34.15 coming years as Korean consumers are looking for safer, healthier and more premium and billion of Food Imports from All Over the World in 2017 (CHF) diversified food items, especially for imported foods. TIPS FOR SWISS EXPORTERS – Understanding Local Consumer Trends – Understanding Local Regulations 68.85 – Korean importers prefer “Face-to-Face Business Meetings” Million of Swiss – Cooperate with the Right Partner Agricultural & Food Exports to Korea in 2017 (CHF) KOREA’S FOOD MARKET – Total CHF 409.9 billion sized market for the Food Industry – CHF 34.15 billion of Food Imports from All Over the World in 2017 – CHF 68.85 million of Swiss Agricultural & Food Exports to Korea in 2017 FOOD CONSUMER TRENDS IN KOREA – Food Safety & Health, Premium & Diversified & Convenience Korea’s Food Imports from Switzerland from 2006 to 2017 OFFICIAL PROGRAM FOOD IMPORT PROCEDURES IN KOREA Figure 1: Korea’s GDP Growth, Nominal – The Korea Customs Service (KCS), the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and the Korea Animal and Plant Quar- antine Agency (QIA) oversee customs clearance for food and agricultural imports – All imported foods need to meet with local regulations, especially with Food Sanitation Act which includes Food Code, Food Addi- tive Code and Food Labeling Standard. TOP 3 ANNUAL FOOD EXHIBITIONS FOR IMPORTED FOODS – Seoul Food 2019: http://seoulfood.or.kr/eng/main.asp – Food Week Korea 2019: http://www.koreafoodweek.com/ – Seoul Café Show 2019: http://www.cafeshow.com/eng/main.asp BEST PROSPECTS FOR THE SWISS EXPORTS Source: World Economy Outlook (October 2018), IMF Chocolate – Total CHF 811.60 million sized Market in 2017 In contrast, Korea’s food self-sufficiency has seen little change. – Total CHF 5.4 million of the Swiss Chocolate Exports made According to the “2017 Annual Food Policy Data” published by in 2017 the Korea Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Korea’s – The imported chocolate market in Korea, especially for premium overall food self-sufficiency rate stood at 50.9% in 2016 and 50.2% chocolates, has expended in recent years with diversified choco- in 2015 and 49.7% in 2014. late products and distribution channels Figure 2: Korea’s GDP Growth, Per Capita Cheese – Korea’s cheese market, especially for natural cheese and ingre- dient, is more relied on imported products (Total 32,241 Metric Tons (MT) of local productions in 2017) – Rapid Growth of the imported cheese market (125,003 MTs of cheese imported in 2017) – Total CHF 2.0 Million of the Swiss Cheese Export made in 2017 Confectionery – Total CHF 3.1 billion sized Market in 2017 (exp.) – Domestic confectionary companies dominate with an 80% of the combined market share – However, local demands for imported products are growing, especially for biscuits & cookies, savory snacks and jellies Source: World Economy Outlook (October 2018), IMF GENERAL OVERVIEW OF KOREA South Korea (hereafter in this Report referred to as “Korea”) is located in the southern part of the Korean peninsula, and borders Table 1: Overview of South Korea China, Japan and North Korea. Seoul is one of the world’s most densely populated metropolitan cities, with almost 50 percent of Capital Seoul the nation’s 51.63 million population residing in and around the Population1 51.63 Million (2018 est.) capital, according to Statistic Korea. Korean people enjoy a high Currency2 Korean Won standard of living as a result of the country’s stellar growth in the GDP3 – Nominal: CHF 1.66 Trillion (11th, 2018 est.) 1970’s~1990’s. South Korea is the 11th largest in the world and the – Per Capita GDP: CHF 32,050 (30th, 2018 est.) 4th largest economy in Asia with a GDP of CHF 1.66 trillion in 2018 Trade4 – Imports: CHF 478.47 billion (18% up, 2017) (estimated), according to International Monetary Fund (IMF). – Exports: CHF 573.69 billion (16% up, 2017) Main Import – China (20%), Japan (11%), USA (10%), Germany (4%), 4 Korea’s imports reached CHF 478.47 billion in 2017, an 18% in- Partners in 2017 Saudi Arabia (4%) crease from CHF 406.1 billion in 2016, on the back of an expanding – *Switzerland is the 29th largest Partner for Import service sector and rising demand for manufacturing goods such as in 2017 (0.57% of M/S) semiconductors, display panels, petrochemicals and oil refinery Total Food Imports – CHF 34.15 billion from the World 4 products. Korea’s annual exports in 2017 rose 15.8% to CHF 573.7 in 2017 – CHF 68.85 million from Switzerland billion, from CHF 495.4 billion. In 2017, Korea recorded its largest Source & Note: exports in six decades, boosted by global demand for the nation’s (1) Statistic Korea (http://kostat.go.kr/portal/english/index.action) (2) For this report, the original data in Korean Won (KRW) and US Dollar (USD) are converted semiconductors, machinery and petrochemicals, according to the to Swiss Franc (CHF). For data simplification, the following exchange rates apply: trade ministry. CHF 1 = USD1, CHF1 = KRW 1,100. (3) International Monetary Fund (www.imf.org) (4) Korea International Trade Association (http://global.kita.net) KOREA’S FOOD MARKET OVERIVEW participation of women in the work force have emerged as major Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) noted that in social issues. These consumers are looking for better quality 2016 Korea’s food market consisting of 1) food manufacturing busi- of food and more convenient ways to access and prepare food. nesses, 2) food service businesses, 3) food wholesale businesses, Increasing demand for Home Meal Replacement (HMR) products, and 4) food retail businesses reached CHF 409.93 billion. Korea’s ready-to-eat or pre-cooked meals and increasing sales of online food industry has grown 7.4% annually from 2005 to 2016 and the retailers reflect such changes. market in 2016 shows a 134% of growth rate, compared with 2006. Lastly, local retailers and foodservice companies are using Figure 3: Size of Korea’s Food Industry advanced technologies with innovational tech-convergence for de- (Unit: CHF Billion) liveries. In addition, with a nation-wide logistical setup, food com- panies can provide same day deliveries. Restaurants receive mobile orders for meals, to be delivered to their door within the hour. Amid such changes, the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) se- lected 3 key words, including 1) Food Safety & Health, 2) Premium & Diversified and 3) Convenience for food consumption trends in Korea. These trends will likely be predominant in the coming years. RECENT SOCIAL CHANGES & FOOD CONSUMER TRENDS Smart Smaller Technology Consumers Households Convergence Source: Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (www.atfis.or.kr/) Note1. The figure is annual sales of each sectors The globalization of Korea and an elevated set of expectations from Food Safety & Health its high-income consumers have made the country a key Asian Premium & Diversified market. Korea imported a total of CHF 34.15 billion of food and Convenience agricultural products (including forest products) from around the world, and it imported CHF 68.85 million worth of agricultural and food products from Switzerland in 2017, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA states, including Switzerland and Korea took effect in 2006. As of 2017, a total of 15 Free Trade Agreements between Korea and 54 countries are in effect. Figure 4: Korea’s Food Imports from Switzerland from 2006 to 2017 (Unit: CHF Million) Source: Korea International Trade Association As more and more Koreans use online media in recent years, con- sumers have access to a variety of information, leading to changes in consumer trends. Smarter consumers interested in health and well-being browse product reviews and check food safety by ana- lyzing, comparing and identifying products before purchase. The country’s demographics, made up increasingly of smaller households, with an ageing society with low birth rates and rising KOREA’S FOOD INDUSTRY BRIEF 2019 3 KOREA’S FOOD IMPORT DATA Table 3: Top 20 Processed Food Import Products by Supplied Volumes in 2016 Among Korea’s food imports, the top 20 food and agricultural prod- Unit: Metric Ton, CHF Million ucts took 68% of the market share in terms of volume, while food ingredients for processing/manufacturing was the highest-ranking # Item Volume Value products in 2016, according to the Korea Ministry of Food and 1 Food Ingredients for Processing/ 2,713,731 1,744,649,164 Manufacturing Drug Safety (MFDS). Korea imported a total of 17,260,882 metric 2 Kimchi 253,972 118,637,821 tons (CHF 23 billion values) of food and agricultural products in 3 Processed Fruits & Vegetables 232,535 437,334,791 2016 and among them, the top 20 products took the lion’s share 4 Beers 223,623 184,215,399 with 11,711,240 metric tons (CHF 7.7 billion). Korea’s food supplies 5 Salts- Refined 205,540 10,840,589 largely depend on imported food, especially for agricultural prod- 6 Processed Root and Tuber Crops 159,633 165,506,189 ucts including grains such as corn and wheat.