During the royal visit, the food and lifestyle track will include a number of different seminars and site visits that are highly interesting for the participating companies. The programme will also contain both a Design Lounge and activities that focus on retail and e-commerce.
Along with economic growth, South Korea is experiencing an increased demand for high quality products and a willingness to pay a premium for the right products. In recent years, consumer spending in South Korea has increased substantially and spending levels have changed the country’s traditional saving culture. This development can also be traced in the food and lifestyle industry, which makes Korea an interesting market for the many Danish companies within this field.
Korean demand for healthy and better foods
Improved economic conditions allow South Korean consumers to pay more attention to quality and diversity in their food purchases and consumption. Although Korean produced food remains the preferred item on the menu, market trends are shifting towards Danish strongholds. Customer sentiment is transitioning towards a demand for healthy foods, quality foods and traceability in food production. Simultaneously organic food has become one of the fastest growing product categories.
South Korea depends heavily on imports of both raw ingredients and consumer-ready products. Industry sources estimate that roughly 70 % of all food products sold in the market are from foreign origins. Local production alone is not capable of meeting the rising demand for products of higher quality, greater variety and competitive prices.
Denmark and South Korea have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship within this sector and Danish products are still a token of quality to South Korean consumers. Considering the increasing consumer demand, there is still a big potential for Danish companies to enter the organic, dairy, bakery, and confectionary markets in South Korea. There is also potential in the enzyme and food additive market as South Koreans are fond of functional foods.
Fans of the Scandinavian minimalism
Nordic design, lifestyle and household items have become increasingly popular among Koreans in recent years due to their creative solutions, attention to detail and human centric approach. The overall Nordic focus on quality, longstanding traditions and craftsmanship, as we see in the food industry, is also the underlying factor behind the growing interest in Danish design and lifestyle products among South Korean consumers.
Because of the popularity of Danish design, furniture and lifestyle products, the opportunity to enter the Korean market or expand current business is expected to rise in the years to come. Due to their focus on minimalistic design, high quality, product safety and sustainability in the production, there is a particularly great potential in targeting the still growing and quality conscious Korean upper middle class.