Chairman Lee Hyo-yul of the Korea Food Industry Association (KFIA).

Despite the adversary situation, major Korean food makers have benefited from the pandemic - seeing sales surge in the first quarter of this year on the back of jumping demand for ramyeon (instant noodles), ready-made “Fourth Meal” foods and home meal replacements in Korea and abroad in the wake of stay-at-home orders, said Lee Kwang-ho, executive vice chairman of the Korea Food Industry Association (KFIA).

For instance, CJ Cheiljedang is expected to post an estimated 5.774 trillion won and 255.9 billion won in operating profit in Q1. The figures represented a 15.1 percent surge and a 42.9 percent jump in sales and operating profit, respectively, compared to the same period a year ago.

The paste and seasoning segments, which heavily depend on B2B sectors, suffered a setback on economic fallout, caused by the pandemic. Korean food makers saw sales jumping on the back of surging demand for Hatban cooked white rice, Cupbop beef bulgogi rice, and HMRs as they are getting nimbler due to the shifting paradigm, from B2B into B2C.

KFIA Vice Chairman Lee said Korean dried foods, as well as immunity-boosting foods like red ginseng products, had shot up in Korea and abroad despite the global pandemic.

Korean food makers’ good business performances were owed partly to the rising standing of Korea, which has gained global recognition as an example of containing the spread of the novel coronavirus on top of a booming K-food industry on the back of hallyu (Korean Wave), he said.

Korean COVID-19 cases had surged to the second-largest number in the world after China. Korea is the sole country in the world to put the virus outbreak under control without border restrictions.

Vice Chairman Lee noted that the nation’s enhanced response capability against pandemic - having managed to trace, test and treat patents of COVID-19 - is attributable to Korea’s reserved strength in all sectors, including well-connected ICT infrastructure and full coverage of all people by the national health insurance program, which have been accumulated under previous governments.

Vice Chairman Lee said KFIA is pondering how to nurture the Korean food industry into the nation’s key export industry, such as the manufacturing industry, saying that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, in charge of the development of the Korean food industry, tends to focus on the protection of farmers’ rights rather than the nurturing of the food industry into an export industry as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy did for the manufacturing industry.

KFIA has opened “I like K-Food special zone” at Vinmart Lieu Giai branch in Vietnam and Lotte Mart Kandara City branch in Indonesia.

The opening of the K-food special zones is done under KFIA’s project to build a Korean agro-fishery products sales platform in Southeast Asian countries. The project is designed to explore markets and boost exports under the government’s “New Southern Countries Policy Initiative.”

KFIA has opened the special zones for the third consecutive year under the support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA).

“I like K-food special zones” will be created at five branches of Vinmart to conduct K-food promotion events all year around. Korean products qualified for launching at the branches of Vinmart will be allowed to be on display at 30 outlets in Hanoi.

KFIA plans to provide support to market entry and hold promotion events at two “I like K-food special zones” of Lotte Mart in Indonesia.