Record High Exports of Ramyeon and Kimchi Amid K-Food Popularity... Food Production Reaches 100 Trillion Won

Increase in Overseas Travel Boosts Instant Lunchbox Production Value
Number of Companies with 'Production Performance Over 1 Trillion Won' Rises from 9 to 11

Thanks to the K-food boom and the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, last year, South Korea's food industry production performance once again exceeded 100 trillion won.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Food Safety Information Service on the 1st, last year's domestic food industry production performance was approximately 108.5 trillion won, showing a 3.5% growth compared to about 104.8 trillion won in 2022. Production performance is calculated as the manufacturing cost of the product produced during the business period, measured in units of one thousand won.

During the same period, food export performance was about 7.2 trillion won, similar to the previous year (about 7.4 trillion won).

By category, food and related products accounted for the largest share with about 70 trillion won (64.5%), followed by livestock products (33%) and health functional foods (2.5%).

Among foods, ready-to-eat/convenience foods, sauces, and bread were produced the most. The increase in production of ready-to-eat/convenience foods is interpreted as a result of increased consumption of convenience meals.

In particular, last year's production value of ready-to-eat foods (dosirak) recorded about 970 billion won, a 63.4% increase compared to the previous year. This is interpreted as a significant increase in in-flight meal consumption in the form of dosirak during overseas travel due to the normalization of cross-border movement that was restricted by COVID-19.

The most exported food item was ramen (fried noodles), with export value last year increasing by 24.4% compared to the previous year to about 950 million USD (approximately 1.3 trillion won). This is attributed to the Korean Wave and the lifting of import-related regulations by the European Union (EU). Kimchi exports also increased by 45.7% during the same period, reaching about 200 million USD (approximately 270 billion won).

Among livestock products, the most produced item was packaged pork (about 9.4 trillion won), accounting for 26.1% of the total. This was followed by packaged beef (20.5%) and seasoned meat (14.9%). The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety explained that packaged pork was produced in large quantities because it is relatively inexpensive and used in various dishes such as grilling, stews, and dumplings.

Production performance related to health functional foods was about 2.8 trillion won, a 1.7% decrease compared to the previous year, but exports increased by 15.4% to about 250 million USD. The Ministry analyzed that "domestic consumption of health functional foods declined due to the end of COVID-19, but export value increased due to growing overseas demand from countries such as China, Japan, and Vietnam." In particular, during this period, red ginseng exports were about 56 million USD (approximately 77 billion won), showing a 32% growth compared to the previous year.

The number of manufacturers with food production performance exceeding 1 trillion won last year totaled 11, two more than the previous year. The top producer was CJ CheilJedang, recording about 3.03 trillion won in production performance last year. The second place was Lotte Chilsung Beverage (about 2.3 trillion won), followed by Nongshim (about 2.2 trillion won) in third place.

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