Vietnam essential to K-food's ASEAN expansion

Inside a new multimodal logistics center in Hanoi, built by the Korean government and completed in June / Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Vietnam is expected to drive Korea's food exports to Southeast Asia, according to the Korean government, which last week completed a market survey in the region's key economy.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Tuesday that it confirmed strong local demand for K-food and identified logistics infrastructure needed to facilitate exports during a recent market survey in Vietnam. K-Market, a Korean food distributor in Hanoi, has risen as a key local company in collaboration with the Korean government.

At the center of the ministry’s latest Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) K-food expansion plan is a new multimodal logistics hub in Hanoi completed last month. The ministry and its fresh produce distribution agency, the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., jointly built the facility to support Korean food exporters by providing a way for them to save on logistics.

The advanced facility is equipped with rapid cooling and freezing rooms and a cold-chain package, which are critical for fresh agricultural and livestock products. The corporation said the facility has helped ease Korean exporters’ concerns about storing fresh products safely in Vietnam’s hot and humid climate.

A ministry official said the facility will allow Korean exporters to deliver “not only high-value fresh Korean agricultural products like strawberries, grapes and pears but also premium livestock products to local consumers in Vietnam.”

At the ASEAN K-Food Fair in Hanoi, which runs from Thursday to Friday, the ministry said it has also seen rising demand for Korean food in the local dining and food service industries and understands the need for business-to-business (B2B) solutions. They said it reflected a rapid change in the local market where Korean food’s popularity has extended from superstores to local restaurants, franchises and canteen services.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung, second from right, samples Korean fruit exported to Vietnam at a Lotte Mart store in Hanoi, April 21. Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The B2B market, the ministry said, is calling for increased government support for exports of precooked foods, meal kits and sauces, as well as ingredients for local firms interested in offering Korean foods, as related industries have seen “explosive market growth.”

K-Market, which has 150 stores across Vietnam, has been singled out as the ministry’s future partner for its export acceleration. The government said the company’s extensive logistics network in Vietnam will enable Korean exporters to expand their markets beyond Vietnam to Cambodia and Laos.

The ministry said this year’s ASEAN K-Food Fair saw 45 Korean exporters meeting 107 importers from ASEAN countries. It resulted in signing a total of 46 memorandums of understanding worth $21 million.

The ministry’s Director General of Food Industry Policy Bureau Jeong Kyeong-seok said Vietnam is “a core strategic outpost for entering the ASEAN market and a vital base for expanding exports of fresh agricultural products and K-food ingredients.”

He added, “Leveraging on the local B2B ingredient demands confirmed this time, the logistics hub infrastructure, and strategic cooperation with mega distribution networks like K-MARKET, we will expand our K-food territory beyond Vietnam into all of ASEAN, including Cambodia, while providing even tighter support to optimize logistics infrastructure efficiency.”