Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs: "Strawberries and Grapes to be Developed as $100 Million Export Star Products"

Last Year, Agricultural Food Exports Recorded $7.03 Billion... Achieving $1.38 Billion in New Growth Exports

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has decided to develop strawberries and grapes as $100 million export items. The ministry will diversify export markets focusing on New Southern and New Northern regions and will also prioritize expanding overseas distribution networks and marketing activities.

On the 20th, the Ministry announced the "2020 Agricultural Food Export Activation Plan," which includes a focused development plan for strawberries and grapes.

The ministry plans to grow strawberries and grapes, which have a solid domestic production base and popularity overseas but low export performance, into $100 million export items. Currently, out of 206,000 tons of strawberries produced, only 4,900 tons are exported, and for grapes, 165,000 tons are produced but only 1,900 tons are exported. The ministry aims to achieve $100 million in export value within 3 years for strawberries and 5 years for grapes through this development plan.

Last year, despite the global economic slowdown and Korea-Japan trade disputes, agricultural food exports increased by 1.5% compared to 2018, reaching $7.03 billion. Fresh produce exports recorded a historic high of $1.38 billion. This was due to strong performances in ginseng ($200 million), kimchi ($100 million), and processed rice products ($100 million). Grape exports grew by 64.4% due to increased exports of high-quality varieties, and strawberries, popular as gifts in countries like Vietnam, grew by 14.7%, achieving $50 million in exports. However, agricultural food exports are still concentrated in Japan, China, and the United States, which together account for 48.5% of the total export market.

Accordingly, the ministry has selected star items exporting over $100 million, including grapes and strawberries, for focused development. For strawberries, the ministry will support country-specific marketing and operate cultivation test fields to reduce deformities and occurrences in the main export variety, Maehyang. To expand export varieties to include Geumsil and Arihyang, demonstration cultivation of new varieties will also be promoted. Marketing events will be held in Thailand, the Philippines, and other countries.

For grapes, the focus is on preventing low-price, low-quality exports and increasing exports to key markets such as China and Vietnam. Additional budget support will be provided for new integrated export organizations, and promotional activities will be strengthened in China and Vietnam.

The ministry will also diversify export markets, which are currently concentrated in Japan, China, and the United States, toward New Southern and New Northern regions. It will expand dedicated sales halls for fresh agricultural products and extend refrigerated and frozen transportation cost support, previously limited to the Hanoi area, to Ho Chi Minh City as well.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Korea-Russia diplomatic relations, the ministry plans to launch the Eurasia K-Food Expedition around June, where an agricultural food promotion team will visit major cities along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Additionally, the integrated export organizations for five items?paprika, strawberries, mushrooms, grapes, and flowers?will be expanded to seven items this year, and an on-site support team will be operated starting January.

Park Byung-hong, Director of the Food Industry Policy Office at the Ministry, said, "This year, we will focus support on fresh items with high growth such as strawberries and grapes to achieve meaningful results in the New Southern market. We will also work to improve on-site difficulties that exporters can feel, such as processing technologies and packaging material distribution, to maintain leadership."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.