Traditional culture and Changes
Food in Korea is commonly
called “bap” which means cooked rice.
A typical meal consists of a bowl of rice and soup along with several
side dishes. This type of meal is usually prepared for the whole family which
involves buying groceries, cleaning and cutting the ingredients and spending an
hour or more in the kitchen.
Social changes are
leading to changes in food culture. With
the growth of single-person households and double-income households, and people
working long hours (Koreans working hours was OECD top 3rd in 2017), the time has become precious just as families have become more affluent. This has led to a decline in the tradition of preparing meals at home. Consumers now
prefer prepared food or ready to eat meals.
Also, dietary habits
have been changing dramatically with rising income and the introduction of western
food over the last 40 years. Rice consumption has decreased from 140Kg per
person per year in 1970 to 60Kg in 2017.
One of the outcomes of favoring fast food
resulted in an increase in bakeries and bread consumption. In 2016, the
average amount of bread consumed per person per year was 90 slices increased
from 72 in 2012.
Another massive change in the food culture by
westernization is the introduction of coffee. Coffee and cafés not only changed
the food culture, but it also brought changes to the lifestyle of Koreans. In
Korea the café developed not just as a place for coffee but to meet, study,
chat, work or even just get away from the heat of the hot summer. As the number of cafés increased, it created fertile
ground for the dessert industry to expand
quickly.
Source: edaily
Unit: EA café
Changes of where groceries are purchased:
Source:
Opensurvey
Trends
Upcoming trends always have reasons for growth. As the size of households decrease and single households increase, simple and easy to
prepare products to find their way into the grocery bags. Wash-and-eat fruits such
as strawberries, peaches, cherries purchase increased while pear, watermelon
and grapes decreased. Milk, which has a short shelf life decreased while long-lasting
and fermented milk products are gaining more market share. Also, as one of the
highest consumers of seafood per person, salmon is simple to prepare compared
to other seafood products and consumption is growing.
Healthy food has always been an ongoing trend
unrelated to the size of households and as a result, we can observe the salad
industry growing. Home-made salad does not show much growth compared to foodservice and the ready to eat salad products which show growth potential.
Especially, Grab-and-go salads and Shop-in-shop salads show the greatest business
possibilities.
The fear of food contamination has become a growing issue
in Korea. An incident involving pesticide in eggs and contaminated frozen
hamburgers have caused peoples to have food-phobia. Experts believe that the
pesticide egg issues were directly related to animal welfare where the
facilities are inadequate for the number of animals they hold.
As with the growing concern about the importance of
healthy and safe food, awareness of the environment and animal welfare issues are
growing. Following global trends, vegetarianism is growing and distributors are
responding with environmentally friendly products and humanely treated animal
products.
At the same time, while seeking environmentally
friendly, healthy and ethical food products, consumers are seeking cost-efficient
products. With the severe competition derived from the unlimited information
delivered through the internet & smartphones, cost efficiency is a
requirement. Moreover, consumers are demanding cost-efficient price which also
provides psychological satisfaction.
As evidence of one type of satisfaction, it is
common to see diners clicking photos of meals. ‘Fun-sumers,’ which is a compound
of ‘fun’ and ‘consumer,’ are people who share their experience of enjoyment
online via SNS. This provides a different type of instant advertising for
products. However, as easily as it can spread the faster it can burn out.
Import Process
The image displayed below is
the general import process:
The time required for
inspection depends on the type of inspection the product must undergo. All
products require document inspection which requires about two business days.
Field inspection will take about three business days. Random sample inspection
where the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) will randomly select a
product for an inspection takes about
five to ten business days. The most challenging
inspection is the complete inspection
that requires at least ten business days
and, depending on the product, can take more. A complete inspection is carried out on the first
import, products containing hazardous substances, problematic documents and
randomly. The importer or partner will have to take care of this process but
knowing the process and supporting the partner will help accelerate the speed.
The requirements for the
complete inspection differs by product, but the
below are the required documents for all products.
1.
Business license (importer)
2.
Business permit (importer)
3.
Shipping documents
4.
Korean labeling
5.
Manufacturer information
6.
Manufacturing process
7.
Component table
8.
Ingredient table
The first import
of a product will undergo a complete inspection. After a product undergoes a complete
inspection, subsequent shipments of identical products only require a document
inspection. An import of 100kg does not require a complete inspection therefore
is not recorded by the Korean Customs Service. The first shipment exceeding 100
kg will be required to undergo a complete inspection. "Identical" is
described as follows:
- Food
product or added food product with identical
country of origin, manufacturer, product name, manufacturing process and
ingredients
- Packaging
with an identical country of origin,
manufacturer, component and background color.
Also, if there is
the problem with customs, it is better to resolve the matter with a 100kg
shipment than a larger one.
Food Exhibitions and Shows
