US set to emerge as top global buyer of Korean kimchi: Daesang

South Korean kimchi exports to the US have soared since the pandemic as local distribution channels expanded and cooking at home increased, according to a major manufacturer of the fermented cabbage side dish. 

Seoul-based Daesang Corp., a food conglomerate that makes up around 70% of exports of Korean kimchi, said Monday that its world-renowned kimchi brand Jongga enjoyed 270% revenue growth from 2019 to 2022 in the US, the second-largest buyer of the products.

Japan, the top consumer of Jongga kimchi, posted 45% revenue growth during the same period. China, the third-biggest buyer, logged 65%; Hong Kong and Australia, the others in the top five, each showed 60% growth.

Sales of Korean kimchi have surged in the US thanks to the growing popularity of Korean food, alongside Korean drama series and movies, and more cooking at home since the COVID-19 lockdown, a Daesang official said.

PLANTS IN US, EUROPE TO MEET GROWING DEMAND

Daesang entered the US with Jongga kimchi in 2010 and initially targeted supermarkets frequented by Koreans, other Asians and Hispanics. In 2021, the company launched the kimchi brand at Walmart Inc. to secure nationwide distribution channels, which led to skyrocketing sales.

Exports of Jongga kimchi to the US were equivalent to 80% those of Japan last year, compared with 30% in 2019. The food giant forecasts that the US will become the No. 1 buyer of the kimchi brand soon.

Daesang built a kimchi plant in the US last year, its first factory to produce the fermented cabbage side dish outside of Asia. Sitting on a 10,000-square-meter site in the City of Industry, Los Angeles, the factory can manufacture up to 2,000 tons of kimchi while sourcing ingredients such as napa cabbage, radish and spring onions from local farmers.

The food company will gradually expand its facilities and estimates 100 billion won ($77 million) yearly revenue in the country by 2025.

Daesang is also targeting Europe, also showing fast-growing sales of packaged kimchi.

The company aims to complete the construction of a kimchi plant in Krakow, a southern Poland city, by next year – it has invested 15 billion won in the factory on a 6,613-square-meter site – to produce more than 3,000 tons of the fermented cabbage dish per year by 2030.

Write to Jiyoon Yang at yang@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.