KGC hawks red ginseng at top US expo for health functional food

Jung Kwan Jang, the flagship brand of Korea Ginseng Corp. (KGC), has been featured at North America’s leading expo for raw ingredients of health functional food.

KGC’s plan is to go beyond Asia including South Korea and Greater China, a region typically comprising China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, to dominate the American market, the world's largest for health functional food.

KGC on Thursday said its Jung Kwan Jang booth at this year’s SupplySide West held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas from Wednesday to Thursday promoted a wide array of hongsam (red ginseng) products and standardized raw ingredients from the nutritional root.

As North America’s largest trade show for raw ingredients used in health functional food, SupplySide West attracts around 1,400 companies worldwide for regular and health food and their distribution. An estimated 18,000 visitors attended this year’s edition.

Jung Kwan Jang’s focus at this event was promotion of products usable as ingredients in healthy food such as red ginseng concentrate, concentrated powder and extract. Unlike its domestic competitors, the brand presented a range of versions of standardized raw ingredients made from red ginseng.

KGC said this expo was a means to raise its market share in the US, the world's largest dry food market. In March, it opened an R&D center in Los Angeles to pursue customized development that incorporates the materials and functionality preferred by the American dry food sector.

Selling about 250 products in some 40 countries, the company stressed the importance of supremacy on the US market to boost its exports.

Based in a ginseng-growing country, KGC eyes promoting “K-Red Ginseng” worldwide.

“By participating in this exhibition, we confirmed the growth potential of red ginseng as a functional ingredient on the global market for health functional food,” a company source said. “We will keep promoting the superiority of red ginseng, a differentiated health food ingredient, and providing opportunities to market Jung Kwan Jang’s products throughout the globe.”

Write to Young Chan Song at 0full@hankyung.com