Ginseng makes inroads into mainstream food market

Rural Development Administration (RDA) Department of Herbal Crop Research Director Choi In-myung speaks during a press conference in Jung-gu, Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of RDA

By Nam Hyun-woo

Korean ginseng is garnering fresh attention as a convenient food item, overcoming its conventional image as an ingredient for traditional medicines.

The Rural Development Administration (RDA) said Thursday it has been developing home meal replacements (HMR) using ginseng, as well as releasing a number of ginseng snacks to meet the current market preference for casual meals.

“Despite its health advantages and dietary benefits, there have been limits in using ginseng as a food,” RDA Department of Herbal Crop Research Director Choi In-myung said. “The development of ginseng HMR products is a pre-emptive measure to respond to changing consumer trends. It will not only boost domestic ginseng consumption but also contribute to exports.”

The RDA's move is in line with its recognition of faltering ginseng consumption.

Domestic ginseng consumption stood at 23,744 tons in 2009 but dropped to 19,635 tons last year. During the same period, exports showed a tepid growth from 4,056 tons to 4,075 tons.

Choi said ginseng consumption has been mostly concentrated on red ginseng and health functional foods, while the market is demanding various products. Also, competition in the ginseng market has become tougher with the aggressive expansion of Chinese and North American players.

“To overcome the challenges, we believe we should resort to HMR, which is showing a sharp and steady growth in recent years,” Choi said.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. (aT), the domestic market volume for HMR amounted to 770 billion won ($675.7 million) in 2010 and grew quickly to 3 trillion won last year.

Currently, the RDA is developing freeze-drying technologies for ginseng so it can be applied to various foods, such as pickles, kimchi, porridge, energy bars and jelly.

Along with developing HMRs, the RDA published a cookbook including 100 easy ginseng recipes for home and restaurant cooking. The book is available at the RDA's online library, lib.rda.go.kr.

Also, the government agency held the Food Culture World Cooking Contest in Seoul in September last year, providing ginseng and ginseng sprouts to more than 50 foreign embassies.

“Though the volume of export did not grow sharply, the amount of exports has increased sharply from $109 million in 2009 to $158 million last year,” an RDA official said. “It is because exports in processed ginseng have grown sharply. And this is why we believe ginseng HMR is a viable Korean ginseng product.”