Harim spearheads globalization of 'samgyetang'

By Park Si-soo

This is the sixth in a series of articles on Korean food companies and restaurants seeking to expand overseas — ED.

Kim Hong-kuk Harim chairman

Harim is stepping up efforts to promote “samgyetang” (chicken stew with ginseng), as an international dish. It is widely regarded as representing a traditional energy booster of the nation.

Toward that end, Harim, the country’s biggest poultry processing company has invested nearly $10 million to build a samgyetang plant in Delaware, the United States. The plant, with the capacity of processing a maximum 300,000 chickens per day, is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year. The product will be sold in the U.S. and exported to Europe and the Middle East.

“I once thought it’s impossible for us to become the No.1 chicken processor in the U.S. But I’m confident that it’s a matter of time for us to achieve the goal with the plant,” said Kim Hong-kuk, chairman of Harim, during a press conference in Seoul on June 5.

Seen is a bowl of “samgyetang” or Korea’s traditional chicken stew with ginseng, which is one of the most sought-after summer energy boosters. Harim plans to start producing packaged samgyetang in Delaware to make it available across the United States from next year. / Korea Times file

Kim unveiled a plan to invest $90 million more in years to come to expand the plant’s production capacity.

“Exports of samgyetang to the U.S. have been very difficult because of tough quarantine inspection on sanitation and other requirements,” Kim said. “The plant will help ensure much easier access for consumers in the U.S. and other target nations.”

American authorities lifted the import ban on the meal in July last year, in response to repeated calls from Harim and other domestic samgyetang makers since 2000.

In 2011, the company acquired American chicken maker Allen Family Foods, the world’s 18th largest chicken maker by production capacity, and renamed it Allen Harim Foods.

The U.S. affiliate of Harim, which filed for bankruptcy in early 2011, swung back into the black early this year and is now gearing up efforts to record $1 billion in annual sales by next year.

Analysts predict a rosy sales outlook for Harim in the U.S. given that an estimated 2.17 million Koreans residing there are considered loyal consumers. The company claims 34 percent of the domestic market for packaged chickens at supermarkets.

Samgyetang is one of the most famous summer energy-boosters in Korea. The traditional dish is a widely loved delicacy for both locals and foreigners, with its hot stew, soft meat and the delicate rice enmeshed inside the chicken.