Tunisia aims to expand market share of agri-food products in Korea

Tunisian food products are on display at the booth of the Embassy of Tunisia at the Korea Import Fair at COEX in southern Seoul, June 29. Korea Times photo by Kwon Mee-yoo

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Tunisia, a North African country renowned for its rich agricultural tradition and diverse food industry, is seeking to increase its market share in Korea with a wide range of products from premium olive oil and tuna to the unique Tunisian pepper paste known as Harissa, which is listed as a UNESCO intangible heritage of humanity.

The Embassy of Tunisia in Korea, along with the Tunisian Export Promotion Center, presented an array of top-quality Tunisian agri-food products at the Korea Import Fair, held from June 29 to July 1 at COEX in southern Seoul.

Boughedir Ahmed, charge d'affaires a.i. at the Embassy of Tunisia in Seoul, said the fair provided an opportunity for Tunisian producers to promote their goods and find the right partners.

"We are trying to have bigger participation because we think that the Korean market is very important to us and we are trying to introduce, little by little, new products to the Korean market," Ahmed told The Korea Times during the fair, June 29.

Ahmed noted some of Tunisia's famed agri-food products, beginning with Tunisian olive oil. Tunisia's southern Mediterranean climate contributes significantly to it being the world's third-largest exporter of olive oil.

"We have olive oil, which is already famous in the market, but we are not satisfied with the quantity sold in Korea. We know that we have one of the best products in the world and we are among the top three exporters in the world, but to be frank, we have a very small market share in Korea," he said.

Ahmed introduced the long-standing tradition of olive oil production in Tunisia, emphasizing its age-old roots traceable to the Carthaginian and Roman eras.

"If you visit Tunisia, for example, and go to the Bardo Museum, where you can find a large collection of mosaics, you can see people from the Roman era, extracting olive oil from olives, proving that it is a very, very old tradition," he said, adding that a significant portion of Tunisian olive oil is sold in bulk to the European Union, where it's often blended with Italian and Spanish oils.

"So there's a good chance you've already enjoyed Tunisian olive oil unknowingly as part of these mixed products. Korean consumers are aware that olive oil is healthy and important in cooking. So we are trying little by little to educate Korean consumers about the quality of the Tunisian product."

The primary hurdle in Korea is raising awareness and knowledge about these products. Ahmed noted the importance of adopting a versatile strategy that combines education, marketing and the establishment of strong partnerships with Korean associates in promoting Tunisian food products.

"We start doing that with TV documentaries. You know, cultural promotion and tourism promotion go hand in hand with commerce. When you start learning about the cultures and traditions of Tunisia, then you want to try couscous, to try harissa, to try dates, to try olive oil. So we have this multi-faceted approach of culture and business," he said.

Ahmed is confident that Korean consumers will eventually recognize and look for high-quality products from Tunisia.

"We will keep participating in different exhibitions and trying to keep going until we find the good alchemy between our products and the Korean market. We are aware that it will take time, but the Korean market will understand the quality of Tunisian products. I'm sure they will," the diplomat said.