Korean Food Is on Its Way into Everyday Life of Mexicans

Sejong, 9 September 2024 — From 19 to 21 August, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation ran a K-food event for employees at the cafeterias of two manufacturing companies in an industrial park in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. In the event, Korean meals were served to about 3,000 workers and received favorable feedback from them.

Overseas cafeteria foodservice industries are a valuable market segment where South Korea can create a steady demand for large volumes of Korean food and agricultural exports. The MAFRA, therefore, has been making efforts to spark a demand for Korean food among corporate and school cafeteria operators in many countries, including identifying potential buyers among cafeteria food suppliers and giving them Korean food samples.

Mexico—the largest importer of Korean food in Latin America—shows good promise for increasing imports of Korean food because Mexicans have taste for spicy flavors and Korean culture is popular among the young. In particular, the industrial city of Monterrey in northern Mexico is a good marketplace to increase exports of Korean food since the city is a large-scale production hub of about 1,000 international companies, including many South Korean manufacturers.

The employee-feeding event was launched to reach out to overseas consumers and provide them with opportunities to enjoy Korean meals in a cafeteria so that the experience of Korean food can lead to individual purchases or a steady export of Korean food ingredients. During the event in Mexico, the Korean meals served at the cafeterias consisted of kimchi, pre-cooked rice, instant noodles, beverages and other Korean food products that are convenient to prepare and widely available in local markets.

After the Korean-food lunch event, local workers said they found Korean meals not only delicious but also refreshing in that they were different from what normally had been served in the cafeterias—bread and sausages. In a survey conducted after the event, 418 (97%) out of the 429 respondents said they would like to have Korean meals served in the cafeterias on a regular basis, and 422 (98%) out of the respondents said they had the intention to purchase Korean food on their own. These results have shown that Mexico has a large potential to become an important market for Korean food exports for cafeteria foodservice.

To encourage Mexicans to enjoy Korean food in their everyday life, the MAFRA has been showing promotional videos on digital advertising screens at bus stops in Mexico City since 26 August, featuring various charms of Korean food, such as ease of preparation, unique sweet flavours, and spicy flavours, as well as food items representing each charm, such as kimbap, Korean pears, Gochujang (Korean sauce), etc.

Along with these K-food events and promotional activities, the MAFRA has been running a challenge event on social media platforms, called “Invent Your Own K-Food Recipe” to turn growing interest in Korean food among Mexicans into purchases. To participate in the challenge, you have to invent a new recipe using Korean food and agricultural products and post it on social media. The challenge event is expected to gain traction, once Mexican influencers release their challenge videos on their social media accounts.

Director-General YANG Joo-pil of the MAFRA’s Food Industry Policy Bureau said: “We see Mexico as a gateway to the Latin American market and thus have been making vigorous efforts to promote Korean food in the country, including improving products, sales promotion at large-scale retail stores, and running tasting events for individual consumers. As a result, as of July this year, we achieved a record high of USD 34.6 million in the exports of Korean agri-food products to Mexico, up by 43% from a year earlier. We will keep up our best to make such success in other Latin American countries.”