Agricultural Food Exports Up 2.4%... Duty-Free Shop Sales Increase 2.1 Times

$8.27 Billion from January to November... 2.4% Increase YoY
Including Duty-Free Store Sales, $8.39 Billion
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Actively Resolves Corporate Difficulties through Duty-Free Sales Management, Support, and New Market Entry Assistance

As of November this year, agricultural and food exports have increased by more than 2% compared to the previous year. The government plans to actively resolve difficulties faced by export companies to expand agricultural and food exports.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 15th that agricultural and food exports reached $8.27 billion by November this year, a 2.4% increase compared to the same period last year ($8.07 billion).

During the same period, sales of agricultural and food products at duty-free shops recorded $120 million, about 2.1 times higher than the previous year's $60 million. Sales of ginseng products led the overall growth, increasing by 74.6% to $64 million compared to last year.

Including duty-free shop sales, total exports reached approximately $8.39 billion by November, a 3.2% increase from $8.13 billion in the same period last year. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to support promotional events such as agricultural and food product exhibition halls within duty-free shops to further boost sales performance in these outlets.

In January this year, the ministry established the 'K-Food+ Export Expansion Headquarters' and the 'Export Information Desk' to maintain constant communication with companies and identify export difficulties through continuous field visits and meetings. About 400 issues were identified, with 344 resolved immediately and 56 under further review, including inter-ministerial consultations.

In response to companies' requests for a Korean certification mark, the ministry developed the 'K-Food Logo' for export companies to use. Additionally, to support marketing using Hallyu (Korean Wave) content, the ministry collaborated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to promote product placement (PPL) linked to various Hallyu contents such as dramas. To reduce logistics costs caused by ship shortages and rising freight rates, the ministry worked with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to expand dedicated shipping slots for agricultural and food exports (from 5 to 7) and airline routes (from 2 to 8), and provided an additional 5% support for logistics costs. Furthermore, following companies' requests for support in halal market exports, a briefing session was held on the 7th to prepare for mandatory halal certification in Indonesia. The ministry also provided guidance on local product development and promotion, halal certification costs, and buyer discovery and matching.

Kwon Jae-han, Director of Agricultural Innovation Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "We are doing our best to identify and resolve export difficulties so that agricultural and food companies venturing overseas do not face hardships despite challenging conditions." He added, "We will actively manage and ensure that all suggestions raised during field visits and meetings are addressed without omission."

Export containers are being loaded onto a ship at Busan North Port. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

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