Among them, the export value of instant noodles in May was 55 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 39.6% year-on-year, and double-digit growth has been achieved for four consecutive months since February. In terms of export destinations, exports to China were the largest in January-May this year, with a year-on-year increase of 50.9%. Exports to the United States (36.5%), Japan (52.9%), and Thailand (51.9%) have also increased significantly.
Affected by the continuous spread of the new crown epidemic, many countries have seen panic buying and hoarding of daily necessities and poor logistics and transportation, which has led to a sharp increase in consumer demand for instant noodles. As a major consumer of instant noodles, China's imports of instant noodles have continued to increase in recent years, making South Korea the biggest beneficiary.
Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) analyzes that diversification, high-end and small package have become the mainstream trends in the development of instant noodles in China in recent years. With the increase in consumption by the middle class, the proportion of high-end instant noodle products continues to expand. Since South Korea developed convenience food earlier than China, it can target young consumer groups and explore new business opportunities in the Chinese market.
Outside of Asia, images of eating Korean instant noodles appeared in the Korean movie "Parasite", which won the Oscar for Best Picture and other awards earlier this year, and played a positive role in the promotion of this convenience food.
Kimchi exports, the export volume has increased month by month since February (28.8%), and the growth rates from March to May were 33%, 62.6%, and 59.7% respectively. The cumulative export value from January to May was 59 million US dollars, an increase of 36.6% year-on-year.
In terms of export destinations, exports to Japan (26.9%), the United States (52.6%), and Australia (92.9%) performed well.
Yonhap News Agency quoted analysis and believes that this is because the epidemic has increased people's attention to health, and more and more consumers are aware of the health benefits of kimchi, which has promoted a significant increase in kimchi exports.
Korean kimchi uses fresh vegetables, low in calories, sufficient moisture, and rich in vitamins and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. In 2013, Korean kimchi culture was included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Korea Agriculture and Fisheries Food Distribution Corporation stated that Chinese consumers believe that Korean kimchi is rich in nutrition, and influenced by the Hallyu boom, Chinese consumers who love Korean food have begun to learn to cook kimchi soup , kimchi fried rice, kimchi pancakes, etc. Style cuisine. Since 2014, the export volume of Korean kimchi to China has grown at an average annual rate of 161.2%, and in 2018 it was 121 tons.
In overseas markets, as early as the end of last year, social media platform Facebook predicted that kimchi would become a popular trend in Australia this year through user sharing data, and many Australians began to prefer fermented foods.
Under the suspension of economic activities in many countries and border controls, the performance of South Korean exports is generally not optimistic. From June 1-20, South Korea’s exports decreased by 7.5% year-on-year, of which passenger cars (-36.7%), petroleum products (-40.9%), and home appliances (-14.9%) were all sluggish.
However, thanks to the increase in consumer demand under the epidemic, the first quarter performance of food companies was gratifying. Food production company CJ CheilJedang’s first-quarter sales and operating profit increased by 16.2% and 54.1% year-on-year, respectively. Among them, the sales to overseas markets accounted for 60%, much higher than the domestic market.
The company said that Korean sauce-like frozen foods and instant rice, which are consumed by households, are also popular overseas.
