Korean food event set for Los Angeles

The Agriculture Ministry said yesterday that it will launch a three-day Korean food marketing and sales event in Los Angeles on Friday as part of the government`s agenda to boost the nation`s exports.

The ministry said its sales target is $100,000 throughout the three-day event taking place at the Hannam supermarket, a major local retail chain, in the heart of Korea Town. The marketing drive will feature foods from over 20 categories, including seasoned seaweed laver, seasoned mollusks, yellow corvenia, seasoned canned tuna fish and dried squid. Four trading companies from Korea will be participating in the government-organized campaign.



A major agenda of the Lee Myung-bak administration is to promote awareness of Korean foods abroad to help boost the nation`s overall export volume and contribute to sustainable economic growth. By establishing a stable distribution base abroad, the government aims to spur demand for Korean agriculture and fisheries products among the population of overseas Koreans, as well as raise demand within the local mass consumer market.

The ministry highlighted that the Korea Fishery Trade Association is scheduled to sign a preliminary agreement with the Los Angeles-based Hannam chain store during the event to ensure steady expansion of the L.A. consumer market.

It added that various events have also been organized to raise awareness of and popularize Korean cuisine among L.A. residents. Locals will have the opportunity to enjoy food-tasting events, such as with "gimbap," or seaweed-covered rice rolls, and fried squid and other seafood.

"We believe this marketing campaign will invigorate demand for Korean foods in the L.A. region and thereby help boost our exports," the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement. "We plan to continue to aggressively support exciting export-marketing initiatives," it added.

In another government effort to globalize Korean cuisine, the ministry said a Korea-Vietnam food festival will be held from Oct. 24 to 25 during the Vietnam-Korea Week in Hanoi. The food festival will be taking place at the National Convention Center in the Vietnamese capital.

The event, organized by the Korean Agriculture Ministry and the Korea-Agro Fisheries Trade Corporation, will feature tasting opportunities and food industry promotion booths.

The ministry said the tasting event is specifically targeted at consumer groups with great interest in Korean cuisine, such as young college students and homemakers from the upper and middle class.

Some of the Korean companies participating in the food-tasting event will be Daesang, CJ Cheiljedang and Fine Korea. They will be helping to promote the awareness of representative Korean dishes, such as kimchi, "bibimbap," "ddeokbokki," "bulgogi," "samgyetang," "naengmyun" and "japchae."

(sohjung@heraldm.com)

By Yoo Soh-jung