FRISELVA, 20 years' experience exporting pork to South Korea

Catalonia exports more than 100,000 tonnes of food and drink to South Korea. The leading food product is pork, accounting for almost half the sector's total exports.

Against this backdrop, the meat company FRISELVA has twenty years' experience exporting high-quality pork to the Korean market. Jordi Micaló, sales director of this benchmark company, tells us about his experience doing business there and introducing a food product.

What do you sell in South Korea? 

In South Korea we sell various pork products, which is our main business as a pig slaughterhouse and cutting plant. The most highly valued cuts are belly, shoulder, neck bones and intestines. The product goes to importers, manufacturers and supermarkets alike.

What led you to export to Korea? What opportunities have you identified? 

In 2005 South Korea was one of the first countries outside the European Union to legalise pork imports. That allowed us to add value to cuts that were worth less in Europe but are prized in Korea. As a country of more than 52 million people with a pork production deficit, it allows significant import volumes.

What have been the main obstacles to exporting there? 

As it was one of the first countries we exported to, the main obstacles were paperwork, because of all the rules and regulations involved in exporting to third countries. On the product side, we have been adapting and improving our products in both cutting and packaging to meet Korean consumers' needs and specifications.

What advice would you give food companies wanting to export there? 

Above all, choose your customers carefully. In Korea business is often speculative, and if you don't pick your customers well they may not honour what was agreed. On the other hand, there are very professional national and multinational companies that cause no problems. As I said, when exporting to third countries the paperwork and import permits matter as much as or more than the product you send. If labelling rules, export certificates, licences and so on are not done properly, it can cause critical problems at the border and in some cases the destruction of the product.

What is distinctive about doing business in the Korean market? 

It is a country that uses letters of credit as the payment method. It is not complicated, but you need to be used to the many clauses a letter of credit involves. Bear in mind too that the large companies are in Seoul, where 20% of the population lives and where most business is done.

How would you rate your experience? 

Very positive. It is almost twenty years' experience in the market and South Korea accounts for a significant share of our exports outside Europe. Over time we have built a solid portfolio of regular customers who value our brand and are loyal to FRISELVA.