Outreach Trip to Busan Market, September 2013

Kevin Sage-EL and the ATO staff made an outreach trip in September 2013 to the Busan area, 200 miles south of Seoul. Busan is the second largest market in Korea with a population totaling over 4 million. The trip allowed the ATO to develop contacts with some of the key importers and distributors in the region. Contacts and industries visited during the trip included Jinwon Trading (fresh fruits), the new container port in Jinhae, Busan Cooperative Fish Market, BEXCO (convention & exhibition center), Shinsegae Department Store (the leading retail store in the region) and Dongyeong Cold Plaza (temperature controlled warehouse for fish & produce). Busan is currently undergoing a major restructuring and is likely to generate bigger consumer demand for imported agricultural products in the coming year. In particular, development of the new port and Free Economic Zone in the western front of the city is followed by a renovation of the old port in the eastern front into commercial, cultural and residential areas. Satellite cities in the vicinity of Busan, including Jinhae and Masan, are also expanding their business/industrial infra structure to cope with Busan. As a result, the Busan metropolitan market is expected to attract more importers and distributors of imported agricultural products in the coming years beyond the current focus (mainly fishery and produce). On the other hand, the new Free Economic Zone could diversify Busan’s imports even further as it attracts new processors in the future.

Great American Culinary Camp Seoul, September 4, 2013

‘Great American Culinary Camp Seoul 2013’ successfully promoted the value and quality of a wide variety of American products to 178 decision makers of the Korean food service sector. As a joint effort between ATO Seoul and the Korean Alumni Association of the Culinary Institute of America (KACIA), the event showcased 16 new recipe ideas that incorporated the latest American restaurant trends as well as products of twelve sponsor organizations, including the U.S. Meat Export Federation, USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, California Milk Advisory Board, Cranberry Marketing Commission and Sunkist. Sponsor organizations conducted a tabletop show at the event and provided the audience with additional product information. Electronic copy of the Culinary Camp Guidebook containing recipes and sponsor product information was made available in ATO Seoul website (www.atoseoul.com) together with UCC cooking videos of select recipes for on-line dissemination.

KORUS Agricultural Trade Roundtable, August 20, 2013

ATO Seoul hosted ‘KORUS Agricultural Trade Roundtable’ seminar in Millennium Hilton Hotel Seoul on August 20, 2013. This forum, which intends to help strengthen the agro-food trade between Korea and the United States, has provided a venue for the Korean industry leaders to share and discuss latest market trends and outstanding issues since 2012. The event on August 20 provided the audience with presentations on (1) International grain price outlook/Korea Rural Economic Institute, (2) Korea’s agricultural import trend in the first half 2013/ATO, and (3) KORUS FTA TRQ Fill Status/AAO as well as a time for the audience to network among themselves. Copies of the presentations are available from ATO Seoul upon request.