K-food becomes Korea's newest travel souvenir for visitors

People walk by a market in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Lee Gyu-lee

• Published Aug 6, 2026 7:00 AM KST

Social media drives visitors to stock up on Korean snacks, wellness foods

At an Olive Young store in Central Seoul's Myeong-dong in central Seoul, tourists fill shopping baskets with protein shakes, kombucha mix and bags of chips while checking recommendations on social media.

Just a few subway stops away at Lotte Mart near Seoul Station, visitors browse snack aisles stocked with instant noodles, coffee mix and Korean sweets, adding products to their luggage before heading home.

“I’m definitely taking some different flavored chips home for my family and friends. Korea has so many interesting flavors. In Germany, we mostly have paprika-based flavors and here you can get any flavor that you want — like honey or cheese — and that’s amazing," said Nadja, a 34-year-old tourist from Germany.

Korean food has stopped being just something to eat during a trip. For many visitors, it has become one of the country's most popular types of souvenirs.

The trend comes as Korean food continues to expand globally. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, exports including agricultural products, processed and fresh foods, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals reached a record $7.05 billion in the first half of this year, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier.

Food exports alone rose 5 percent to $5.38 billion in the first half, with particularly strong growth in North America, Europe, the Middle East and China.

The upward momentum continued throughout 2025, when Korean food and agricultural exports hit a record $13.62 billion, up 5.1 percent from the previous year. Food exports surpassed $10 billion for the first time last year, extending a decade-long growth streak driven by strong overseas demand for products such as instant noodles, sauces, coffee mixes, kimchi and snacks.

A visit to major chains like Olive Young and Lotte Mart in areas popular with tourists like Myeong-dong and Hongdae showed that overseas visitors are increasingly buying more than the traditional Korean travel staples of instant noodles and roasted seaweed. Wellness products, snacks and ready-to-eat meals have become must-buy items, with many purchases driven by social media recommendations.

At Olive Young, the influence of social media was evident across the aisles, with international shoppers checking their phones before picking up products such as probiotics and konjac jelly.

Olive Young's private-label chips were also among the most popular items, with Chinese tourists in particular saying they discovered the products on the country’s social media platform Xiaohongshu.

"I learned about these Olive Young chips because they were trending on Xiaohongshu, so I tried them," said Xiaorong, a 24-year-old tourist from China. "They were really good, so I bought a lot to give to my friends back home."

Aygul, a 34-year-old tourist from Turkmenistan, placed protein shakes and melatonin gummies into her basket after discovering them through TikTok.

"I saw these protein shakes on TikTok. It said they have good effects, because if you drink one before a meal, you don't eat as much," she said.

Her shopping list, however, extended beyond wellness products.

"My favorite food in Korea was ramyeon. I tried the seafood flavor and really liked it. I'm going to buy some ramyeon to take home for my family and friends,” she said.

The pattern repeated itself at the Lotte Mart at Seoul Station, where many tourists arrived with suitcases.

The supermarket has prominently displayed products popular among overseas visitors, including a variety of sweet and savory snacks like Chaltteok Pie, a cookie filled with rice cake, baked potato stick, Lotte's Zero sugar free snack series, instant coffee mix, probiotics and kombucha.

The instant noodle aisle was another popular stop for visitors, with many stocking up on varieties such as japchae, Shin Ramyun and Ottogi's less spicy version of its classic Jin Ramen.

For many travelers, shopping for Korean food is an extension of their dining experience in Korea, a way to bring home flavors they cannot easily find in their own countries.

"Dakgalbi was my favorite dish I found in Korea,” Nadja said. “There's a dakgalbi restaurant in Hamburg, but it's not the same. It's been Westernized so it doesn't feel authentic. I really enjoyed trying the authentic version here."

Another German visitor, Yuna, 33, said her impression of Korean cuisine changed after arriving in the country.

"I think for me, Korean food wasn't as spicy as I thought it would be,” she said. "Also, I thought Korean food would be more rice-based, but it actually wasn't. There is a lot more variety than you think. There are so many different dishes — a lot you don't know outside of Korea — that are really, really good."

For Madison, a 25-year-old tourist from the United States, the biggest surprise was not the level of spice but the depth of flavor.

"Korean food was a bit more flavorful than I expected before coming here. In America, the Korean food I tried was not that flavorful," she said.

"Of everything I've eaten in Korea, I'd recommend tteokbokki the most. In the States, you can't really get that there. We have a CU in Hawaii, so you could buy pre-packaged tteokbokki but it's not quite the same."