Welcome to the World of K-Food, the Poles!

 

On a sunny day in April, Maciej Bartusz and his kids were drawn by a K-Food section while looking around Kuchnie Świata, an imported food shop located in Warsaw in Poland. Maciej who likes the spicy taste of Korean food bought a lot of gochujang (red pepper paste), one of signature Korean sauces and pastes, and new items such as buldak-bokkeum-myeon (stir-fried noodles with spicy chicken). He said that Korean ramyeon (instant noodles) is large in quantity and good in taste, and he and his children love it.

The popularity of Korean food, so-called K-Food, there in Poland is gradually increasing. According to the recent statistics provided by Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation (aT), USD$ 33.50 million worth of Korean food products was exported last year, which is a 7.1% increase from the exports made in 2017. Thus, Poland is emerging as a major importer of K-Food among the countries of European Union (EU). Korea Agrafood covers many things about K-Food in Poland including: Korean Food Sales Roadshow 2019 held on April 24 in Warsaw in Poland, noteworthy K-Food items in the Polish market, K-Food highly rated by a Polish buyer, a story about Agrifood Frontier Leader Organization (AFLO) working in Poland, and so forth.

 

 

 

#Poland is Receiving Attention for Its Culinary Culture Similar to That of Korea

 

There are various reasons why Poland is paying attention to Korean food products. First, there are many similarities between Poland and Korean in terms of culinary culture. Let's take sauerkraut, a signature Polish fermented food, for example. The Polish food is made by fermenting chopped cabbage, which is very similar to Korean white kimchi. Similar to the Korean kimchi, it is served as a side dish for a main dish, or made to kapuśniak, a cabbage soup, which is similar to Korean kimchi-jjigae (kimchi stew). For another example, pierogi, which is so-called soul food for the Poles, also looks similar to Korean dumplings. It is made by stuffing assorted ingredients including finely chopped meat, potatoes, and vegetables. Also, gnocchi, which a type of pasta enjoyed by Polish people, is marked by its chewable texture similar to that of Korean rice cakes. In addition to such resemblances in culinary culture, the consumption propensity of Polish consumers who are highly receptive to foreign food, the advancement of Polish eating-out culture, the growth of convenience food market, and the increase of vegetarians in Poland are all positive signs to the further growth of the K-Food export to Poland.

In the meantime, Korean exporters are also eyeing the Polish market. This is because this European country is geographically advantageous. It is located in Central Europe and can thus be a perfect market due to its market access to Central and Eastern European regions and Northern Europe. In addition to such geographical advantage, the country has a food market that is expanding as its economy continues growing, and its people are getting more health-conscious and accordingly the well-being trend prevails there. Further, people in the country tend to be willing to open their minds to foreign food. What's more, the growing popularity of Korean culture including K-pop in the country is boosting the K-Food export to Poland. Thus, Poland is evaluated as a potentially lucrative market for the export of Korean food. That's why the Korean government has selected Poland as a strategic target for its efforts to diversify markets for K-Food exports which used to depend heavily on a handful of countries including Japan, China, and the US.

 

 

 

 

#Korean Food Sales Roadshow 2019 Ended in Great Success

 

The Korean food sales roadshow for the first half of 2019 was held on April 24 in Warsaw in Poland. The success of the roadshow was a measure of the interest of Polish people in Korean food products. Through the export meetings between domestic exporters and Polish buyers organized as an event of the show, Bogoshinyak concluded a temporary export contract for approximately USD$ 10,000 worth of exports, Hosan Co., Ltd. also concluded a new contract for its black garlic, and both Korina Trade and Oriental F&B discussed the possibility of securing spots at large-scale distributors there in the second half of this year. In the export meetings, 11 Korean food companies and 15 Polish companies and individual importers and buyers involved in distribution and food service participated, and the contracts for a total of approximately USD$ 2.35 million worth of potential exports were concluded.

Dariusz Richter, an importer participated in the roadshow, said that Polish consumers interested in ethnic food turn their eyes to Korean food from Japanese and Southeast Asian ones. Son Ji-hee, a director of the Poland branch of aT, said that big distributors in Poland showed their interest in some Korean food products such as canned kimchi, bulgogi (marinated and grilled beef) sauce, and tteokbokki (stir-fired rice cake) which could not be dealt with without prior knowledge of Korean cuisine. He added, "So, I realized that the awareness of and interest in Korean food is on the rise."

 

 

 

#K-Food Going Well with Polish Culinary Culture  

 

Kimchi and Gim in Tune with Veggie Fever in Poland. As a trend of so-called well-being life prevails worldwide, the market for vegetarians in Europe is growing. Even in Poland where most people have meat-based eating habits, vegetarian diets are gaining popularity. Vegetarians in Poland account for 11% of the country's total population. Considering that vegetarians in Germany where the vegetarian market is the largest in Europe account for 14% of its total population, the vegetarian population of Poland is not insignificant. As the vegetarian market in Poland grows, Korean kimchi is also garnering attention there. Warsaw Insider, a famous Polish magazine, introduced kimchi in a section of articles on vegan trend in 2017. Also, on Youtube, videos of making kimchi are not that difficult to find. The reason why Polish vegetarians pay attention to Korean kimchi is that kimchi is similar to sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is a fermented food made by preserving cabbage in salt, and is usually served when a Pole has a meal. Kimchi has become a charming Korean dish that can appeal to the Poles. For example, Krzysztof Kruszewski, a sales director of Unifood that carries Korean agricultural products and food in Poland, picked kimchi as a favorite Korean food.

 

 

 

In addition to kimchi, gim (dried laver) is enjoying popularity among Polish consumers as a gluten-free food and a vegan snack. The dried seaweed was exported to Poland last year, and the export amounted to USD$ 1.06 million, which is a 48% increase from USD$ 0.72 million worth of the export made in 2017.

 

 

 

#Sauces

 

Last summer, Bobby Burger, a Polish franchise burger chain, introduced Taekwondo Burger. The burger named after the Korean martial art implies that it is linked to Korean food and tastes somewhat strong. It is made with chicken, roasted bell peppers, tomatoes, purple onion, lettuce, and pickled cucumber, with an addition of sticky Korean barbeque sauce. It is highly rated by local consumers for its strong and new taste. The Korean barbeque sauce is made with ganjang (soy sauce) as a base sauce, and by adding sugar, vinegar, garlic, and red pepper powder to the base sauce. Korean sauces have a high potential to be successful in Poland. There were many buyers at the Korean food sales roadshow who selected bulgogi as a favorite Korean dish. This is because they are fascinated with Korean sauces, and their favorite dish is made using ganjang, one of representing Korean sauces, as a base sauce. Mirostaw Laskowski from Unifood recommended Korean sauces including the bulgogi sauce as a Korean food product worthy of being exported to Poland. Kamil Augustynowicz from EaT, another distributor, said that he is interested in importing chunjang (black soybean paste) and gochujang. As such, the Korean sauces and pastes are securing competitiveness in the Polish market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#Dumplings and Black Garlic

 

In Poland, there is a growing number of Polish consumers who seek for convenient and easy-to-cook instant food. The sales of the instant food increased to 100,600 tons in 2016 from 97,900 tons in 2012. In tune with such trend, Korean instant dumpling is gaining attention. You can fix it just in five minutes. The dumpling can be a hearty meal because it is stuffed with starch noodles and various vegetables. It can be also enjoyed by many Polish people without hesitation because it is similar to pierogi, a traditional Polish dish. In general, Korean dumplings include meat. However, due to the quarantine inspection in Europe, processed meat products are not allowed to be exported, and thus veggie dumplings without meat are suitable for the Polish market.

 

 

 

Considering that health is the top priority in the world market, Korean black garlic has also a high potential in Poland. The black garlic is a naturally fermented food ingredient, and known to have anti-cancer effects and promote the circulation of blood. Various black garlic products are produced and exported mainly by Uiseong in North Gyeongsang Province and Namhae in South Gyeongsang Province in Korea.

 

 

 

 

#Polish Expert Discusses Strategies for Exporting Korean Agricultural Food

Products Interview with Dariusz Richter, a Buyer from Kuchnie Świata

 

 

 

 

Kuchnie Świata is a big store carrying foreign food and located at a central station in Warsaw having a great floating population, and is thus visited by many. It carries a wide range of Korean agricultural and food products including ramyeon, gim, snacks, gochujang, and doenjang (soybean paste). Dariusz Richter, a buyer from Kuchnie Świata who loves Korean agricultural products and food to such an extent as to develop himself recipes suitable for the tastes of Polish consumers, talked about Korean agricultural and food products.

 

Q. What is your favorite Korean food?

 

Gimbap (seaweed rice rolls filled with a variety of fillings) is very delicious. What you add to make gimbap as an ingredient can determine what version or type of gimbap you make. In Poland, sushi, which is a representative Japanese food, is popular. So, I'd like to recommend Polish people who like sushi to try gimbap without fail. In addition to gimbap, bulgogi is also my favorite Korean dish made with ganjang as a base sauce. It is very clever dish because you can enjoy this delicious dish simply by roasting it after marinating it for some time. Dumpling with a nice mouthfeel is also one of my favorite dishes.

 

Q. Do you think Korean food is competitive in Poland?

 

I think, among Asian cuisines, Korean cuisine is most similar to Polish one. Korea and Poland share some similar food culture. Take a kimchi-making culture for example. The Poles eat salted cabbage throughout the winter. Take Korean dumpling for another example. The dumpling is similar to pierogi, which is one of representative Polish dishes.

 

Q. What Korean food is popular at Kuchnie Świata, and why do you think the food sell well?

 

Ramyeon is one of the most popular Korean food products, and spicy ramyeon is in particular selling like hot cakes. In addition to the Korean instant noodles, famous Korean snacks including Pepero (cookie stick dipped in chocolate) and Saewookkang (shrimp-flavored cracker) are selling well. The popularity of these snacks is contributed to the tastes familiar yet new to Polish consumers. Pepero is a similar snack to a Polish snack. This sweet and salty chocolate snack gives an impression similar to that of the Polish snack, and is thus gaining favorable responses from the local consumers. As for Saewookkang, Polish people recognize shrimps as a high-end food ingredient, and they can enjoy the flavor of the deluxe food ingredient at a low price. That's why this shrimp snack sells well in Poland. Also, gim snacks are getting popular as Polish consumers are getting more familiar to Korean seasoned gim and plain gim which was once considered an ingredient for sushi in the past.

 

Q. Do you have any other Korean food products you would like to import?

 

Korean tofu (bean curd) has a creamy mouthfeel. As the Polish vegetarian population increases, the consumption of tofu, as a substitute for meat, is also increasing. Tofu is a versatile food ingredient as it can be used to make a variety of soups and be enjoyed immediately by roasting it. Dangmyeon (starch noodles) is another potential food ingredient that can be successful in the Polish market. As sweet potatoes win the heart of vegetarians, the cellophane-like noodles will gain competitiveness when it is promoted as noodles made of sweet potatoes. Last but not least, I'd like to mention Korean beef. The marbling of Korean beef suffices to make Polish consumers think the beef as a fancy food ingredient. But, it's a pity that exporting Korean meat to EU countries is prohibited.

 

Q. Do you have anything you want to say to Korean exporters?

 

A dish palatable to me is not necessarily good to others, and exporters need to keep this in mind. Polish people are not that familiar to marine products, and some likes kimchi made with an addition of jeotgal (salted seafood) and others dislike it. Also, there are some Polish consumers who harshly criticize kimchi, saying that they feel like eating powdery food because of red pepper powder used to make kimchi. So, recipes for local people are needed. Take kimchi for instance, you can make kimchi-jjigae taste like bigos, a Polish dish, by taking jeotgal out of kimchi.

 

Q. Can you give suggestions to Korean exporters?

 

Food companies that are successful worldwide provide food ingredients suitable to individual food cultures of countries to which the food ingredients are exported. It is wise to approach a market with a full understanding of the cultural difference between two countries involved in trade. In addition to the cultural difference, a recent trend in a target country and a main interest of people in the country are also important factors you need to consider. For example, in EU countries, the environment protection is a perpetually pivotal issue, and there is a growing interest in eco-friendly food and healthy food among young people there. In line with this European trend, a type of packing has been changing to glass bottles, and paper wraps and bags in Poland. However, it is hard to find such eco-friendly packing in Korean products, and it is thus urgent for Korean food exporters to join this trend and change their packing.

 

 

#Count on Us to Pioneer Polish Market

 

Four youngsters were busy at a venue where Korean Food Sales Roadshow 2019 was held in Warsaw on April 24 this year. They worked as assistants at the meetings between Korean exporters and Polish buyers. They are the members of Agrifood Frontier Leader Organization (AFLO) who were sent to Poland from Korea. The AFLO members who ran around the venue to help the meetings go well are Kwon Su-min, Kim Yu-lee, Cho Yun-young, and Han Sung-taek. Korean Agrafood interviewed the AFLO members.

 

 

 

Q. What made you want to join AFLO?

 

Cho: When I was studying in Poland, it was hard to buy Korean agricultural products and food. My Polish friends who like Korean food were also sad about not being able to buy Korean food in Poland. That's why I wanted to join AFLO and do activities of AFLO so that I could be of help to Polish people who wanted to purchase Korean food products.

 

Han: As a member of AFLO, I can take the initiative in experiencing various export-related businesses including doing market research, finding and contacting buyers, and marketing. I applied to AFLO because I thought I could experience and learn more than interns in other public institutions and organizations.

 

Q. What do you do in Poland?

 

Han: I participated in producing a catalog introducing Korean agricultural and food products to prepare a meeting with a company distributing its products to hypermarkets. I struggled to come up with an effective way to introduce the products to Polish buyers. I finally came up with an idea of associating Korean fermented food with Polish one. For example, sauerkraut which is a traditional Polish fermented food is made by fermenting cabbage and is similar to Korean kimchi. So, I made some materials to help Polish buyers understand the Korean food products and introduced the products using the materials, and this hard work was paid off and the company could supply its products.

 

Cho: I planned a promotional and marketing strategy to promote Korean ginseng in Poland, and helped conclude a USD$ 20,000 worth of contracts. I also participated in hosting an event from May 13 to 18.

 

Kim: Korean cosmetic products are popular among foreigners. So, I promoted Korean sheet masks and collagen drinks in connection with beauty treatment. Some buyers who showed their interest in the collagen drinks visited Korean Food Sales Roadshow 2019 and had meetings with Korean exporters.

 

Q. You will be working for three months in Poland. Are you all ready for this venture?

 

Kwon: I think we can do what we have to do more easily thanks to the efforts made by our senior AFLO members who have been working since 2017. Even if I don't achieve any tangible results in export contracts on Korean agricultural and food products, I will do my best to promote Korean agricultural and food products, like our seniors do, so that our junior AFLO members can achieve good results in the future.

 

Kim: Hovenia dulcis, or oriental raisin tree, is not registered as an entry of novel food, and thus food companies using the extract of this hardy tree have a hard time entering the European markets. So, I will make full efforts to help the tree extract be registered as the novel food.

 

Cho: I will concentrate on imparting information on the virtues of Korean ginseng. I'm considering a ginseng-themed cooking show.

 

Han: I was able to discover many buyers and distributors thanks to our senior AFLO members. So, I will thoroughly conduct market research to find new buyers, and continue to interact with buyers to pave the way for the future export of Korean agricultural and food products.

 

Q. Do you have a word of advice you want to share with future AFLO members coming to Poland?

 

Kim: I want them to be more active rather than be passive. I think there are various ways to export food products, so I want them to continue to find a better way.

 

Kwon: Immediately after you come to Poland, you will be assigned to work. You will have to do market research and communicate with buyers. When you are not ready for this, you may get perplexed. So, it may be a good idea to pick up some simple Polish phrases or sentences, and also understand what you will have to do and learn some practical business skills, before you get here.

 

 

 

#What Items Young People Think are Promising to be Exported to Poland

 

Cho: Korean-style ice flakes used to sell before in Poland. The ice flakes with topping of bean flour, which looked the same as ones sold back then in Korea, were very popular among Polish consumers. Considering that the vegetarian market is growing in Poland, there is a high chance that tasty and quality Korean beans will be exported to the local market.

 

Kim: The Polish government is currently building an airport in Warsaw and planning to develop it as a hub in Europe. So, I think it is a good idea to export convenient rice porridge so that potential travelers who will use the new airport can eat it quickly and easily. Since Europeans frequently eat soup, the mouthfeel of Korean-style rice porridge is not unfamiliar to them.

 

Han: I'd like to pick tteokbokki which features a gummy texture of rice cakes because the texture is familiar to Polish people. In addition to the familiar texture, the spicy taste of the dish can appeal to the local consumers who are open to foreign food. In addition to this spicy food, Korean instant food has a high possibility of being successful in this country, considering the hectic life of Polish people today.

 

Kwon: Consumers in some countries which do not enjoy fermented food have little knowledge of fermented food products in the first place. So, it is fortunate that Polish people usually enjoy fermented food, and kimchi which is one of representative Korean fermented dishes is highly likely to be chosen by local consumers in the Polish market. However, a relatively high price of kimchi is a main issue to be solved.

 

#What AFLO is?

 

AFLO refers to a program run by aT and Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) of Korea to train passionate and capable young people to be professional personnel having expertise in the export of Korean agricultural and food products. It also has a meaning of young leaders in the vanguard of pioneering undeveloped, potential markets. AFLO members are sent, along with aT staff, to some strategic countries to diversify export markets for Korean food products, and work as a local market pioneering agent in the countries. This year, 48 members were sent to eight countries—Malaysia, India, Cambodia, Mongol, Myanmar, Poland, Thailand, and Indonesia.

 

 

#Potential Korean Exporters to Gain Attention from Polish Consumers

 

On the part of buyers, there is not a sufficient amount of information about Korean agricultural and food products. Thus, it is not that easy to determine which item is good to be imported. For those who have difficulty in deciding what to import, Korea Agrafood introduces here four Korean companies participated in Korean Food Sales Roadshow 2019 held in Poland and their flagship products.

 

Nature Farm

 

 

 

Nature Farm is a representing Korean persimmon processing company that achieves the highest production and highest sales in the persimmon processing field in Korea. Nature Farm exported USD$ 0.45 million worth of its products last year. The company exports its processed persimmon products mainly to Southeast Asian countries and Japan. It is now knocking on the door to new overseas markets in European countries including Poland and the Middle East area. It is exporting ice hongsi (ripe persimmon) to Poland. Nature Farm only uses persimmons produced through contract cultivation signed with farms that achieved a national good agricultural practices (GAP) certification from the Korean government. It is also making efforts to obtain a global GAP certification to win foreign consumers' trust.

·E-mail:dauphin@daum.net / ·www.nfdry.com

 

The Bab

 

 

 

The Bab is a producer and an exporter of Korean tteokbokki. It made tteokbokki at a venue where the Korean food sales roadshow held in Poland this year, and demonstrated how to make tteokbokki and provided the tteokbokki to buyers. The tteokbokki of the Bab is very simple and easy to cook. It is also good to foreign consumers who try Korean tteokbokki for the first time because the tteokbokki is not that spicy. It can be kept at room temperature for up to 12 months. It can be enjoyed by vegetarians because it does not contain any animal ingredients. It obtained a vegan certification from the Vegan Society in England. As the main ingredient used to make tteokbokki, rice is used instead of flour to make a gluten-free product.

·E-mail:thebabkr@naver.com ·www.thebab.kr

 

Bogoshinyak

 

 

 

Bogoshinyak is a company producing functional drinks. It is producing and exporting a variety of drinks including hangover-relieving drinks, ginseng-based drinks, and vitamin drinks. The company runs its own technology research and development (R&D) center where the development and research on products customized to the characteristics of various markets are under way. It has been working on a hangover-relieving drink for two years to release it, and the drink was exported to the Polish market last year for the first time. The company recently introduced a collagen drink for consumers who are interested in health and beauty care, and succeeded in concluding a USD$ 10,000 worth of export contracts at the Korean food sales roadshow held in Poland this year.

·E-mail:wychoi75@gmail.com ·www.ebogo.kr

 

Oriental F&B

 

 

 

Oriental F&B carries a wide range of food items, and its flagship export items include kimchi, bulgogi sauce, gochujang, citrus tea, and others. The products of Oriental F&B are gaining big distributors' trust, and they are thus traded in large supermarkets in some European countries including the UK and Sweden. The company has been participating in the Korean food sales roadshow held in Poland for three years in a row. Peter Cha at Oriental F&B said that a trust can be built up through frequent meetings with buyers. He said, "Although prices of ingredients fluctuate depending on the harvest in Korea, we provide buyers with our products at the prices unchanged based on the trust established with the buyers even if there is a loss on our part."

·E-mail:orientalfnb@orientalfnb.com ·www.orientalfnb.com

 

#Kkuman Introduces K-Food to Czech people

 

 

 

Among Youtubers who create various video contents and upload them onto Youtube, so-called meokbang (eating show) is the most popular topic. Among numerous Youtubers, a Youtuber who creates contents about Korean agricultural products and food is drawing a great deal of attention in the Czech Republic. The Youtuber is working under the moniker of "kkuman," and producing contents of him eating various Korean dishes including samgyetang (chicken soup with ginseng), fried seasoned chicken, jeon (pan-fired pancakes), makgeolli (unrefined rice wine), bibimbap (cooked rice mixed with meat and assorted vegetables), and bulgogi, and providing the produced contents to Czech people. Korea Agrafood interviewed the hardworking Youtuber.

 

Q. Could you introduce yourself?

 

I met Alena Hneda on an online pen pal site and married her, and have been living in the Czech Republic since then. She is a professional horse rider, and we are running a horse-riding club. We offer children courses on horse riding every Monday and Friday, and gave away snacks a few times and their responses were good. That's when we started cooking Korean dishes.

 

Q. What Korean dish have you made for Czechs, and how they reacted to the dish?

 

We made various Korean dishes such as buldak-bokkeum-myeon (hot chicken flavor instant noodles), Andong jjimdak (Andong-style braised spicy chicken), kimchi-jeon (kimchi pancake), dak-gangjeong (sweet crispy fried chicken), stir-fried sausages and vegetables, dumplings, chicken, and pork belly for students who visit our horse-riding club. The Czech children who tried these various dishes liked some sweet foods the most. Adults liked ganjang-based food, and ramyeon is loved by all regardless of gender and age. They also like kimchi-jjigae (kimchi stew) made with some homemade kimchi. Considering this, I think Korean sauces such as ganjang, gochujang, and doenjang, and ramyeon can be loved by the Czechs.

 

 

 

Q. How do Czechs Think of Korean food products?

 

There is a growing number of stores or marts that carry Korean food products. You can buy Korean agricultural products and food in K-shops or markets in Prague, or buy them online. Thanks to the huge popularity of K-pop and Korean TV dramas or shows, there is a growing number of Czech people who want to try Korean agricultural products and food, and they are looking for various routes or channels to buy the products and food. In the Czech Republic, Korean food products are recognized for their clean package and high quality. However, there are still some Czech people who cannot distinguish Korean food from or Vietnamese food.

 

Q. What contents do you plan to create in the future?

 

I will keep making dishes using Korean agricultural products and food for Czech people as in a way we are doing now. I'm considering producing contents of making Korean fusion food that can appeal to Czechs. After building up such experiences, I'm thinking of opening our own restaurant where we can serve Korean food or Korean fusion food to local people here in the future.

 

* Kkunman's Youtube channel:

www.youtube.com/channel/UCzjiRWjfbtHwdpSLTs0LzUw/featured?disable_polymer=1