“Alaska & Main Seafood Menu Promotion” in Jeju Lotte City Hotel

With its grand opening in February 2014, Lotte City is the newest five star hotel in Jeju island, the leading tourist destination in Korea not only for local consumers but also for foreign visitors. Celebrating the grand opening, the hotel has organized an “Alaska & Main Seafood Festival” in its buffet restaurant and banquet service facility in March and April which features premium Alaskan crabs and Maine lobsters. ATO Seoul and Lotte City Hotel co-hosted a lucky draw event on March 7 to attract consumer and press attention to the event. So the ATO had the honor of contributing to the first promotional event for this new hotel! Additionally, amongst the invited trade audience, the ATO invited a group of chefs and purchasing managers from leading hotels in the island to promote the quality American seafood they could also consider purchasing for their own establishments. The total value of American seafood that will be sold through the menu promotion is forecast to $50,000 for Alaskan crabs and $80,000 for Main lobsters but greater results is expected as other hotels will likely seek to offer these American seafood products.

ATO Outreaches to Thoroughbred Horse Industry in Jeju

ATO gave a courtesy call on the Korea Thoroughbred Breeders Association (KTBA) and Korea Racing Authority’s Stud Farm in Jeju island on March 6, 2014. Jeju island is the home of thoroughbred horse industry in Korea. There are 113 breeding farms under KTBA. The breeding farms have over 2,000 breeding mares and supply about 1,200 new race horses to the KRA races each year. The KRA Stud Farm maintains a dozen world-class stallions, a majority of them imported from the United States including the current top sire in Korea, Menifee. This stud farm provides premium stud service to the breeding farms. KTBA and the KRA Stud Farm will continue to generate strong demand for imported breeding mares and stud stallions from the United States. Korea’s imports of horses totaled $24.7 million in 2013, up 28.8 percent from the previous year. The United States was the leading supplier of horses to Korea by accounting for $18.5 million of the imports.

Courtesy call on the Korea Food Industry Association (KFIA) on February 21, 2014

Kevin Sage-EL, director of ATO Seoul along with Kevin Smith, Agricultural Minister Counselor of the U.S. Embassy Seoul made a courtesy call on the Korea Food Industry Association (KFIA) on February 21 and met with Ingu Park, the chairman of KFIA. ATO and KFIA discussed in the meeting many key issues related to the agricultural and food trade between Korea and the United States, including Korean government’s new policy initiative on GMO labeling and functional food code. Both parties came to a conclusion that stronger partnership between FAS Seoul and KFIA should benefit traders in both countries by reducing the cost of food and enhancing the exchange of information. KFIA was established in 1969 under the objective of promoting the development of the food processing industry and enhancing the consumer health and diet. KFIA’s 119 members represent some of the largest food manufacturers in Korea. In particular, KFIA has been taking the leadership in providing the industry comments to new regulatory initiatives of the Korean government over the years. The cash-register sales for the food processing industry in Korea totaled W43.1 trillion won (roughly $40 billion) in 2011, up 14.3 percent from the previous year. The industry relies heavily on imported ingredients by nature and offers excellent opportunities to a wide variety of American products. Korea’s imports of intermediate agricultural products, many of which are destined for the food processing industry, from the United States amounted to $1.5 billion in 2013, up 14.3 percent from the previous year.