Catalan gourmet produce shines on the shelves of South Korea's leading supermarket

From 7 to 13 October, PRODECA ran a point-of-sale promotion at the Hyundai Department Store supermarket, part of the Hyundai Group. For a week, more than a hundred gourmet products were promoted in South Korea's largest supermarket (13,860m², the equivalent of two football pitches).

The promotion featured displays on specially designed stands at the store's main entrance with a pa amb tomàquet tasting area — an icon of Catalan cuisine — and cured meats from the participating Catalan companies. 

In all, 26 Catalan companies took part in this initiative to raise awareness and sales of Catalan gourmet products, cured meats and wines in this market and to boost trade relations between Hyundai Green Foods and Hyundai Department Store and Catalan companies. 

• Anela – Preserved fruit 
• Bohigas – Cava
• Bombons Cudié – Sweets 
• Borges – Olive oil
• Bubó – Sweets 
• Can Bech – Jams 
• Caviaroli – Oil preserves 
• Clos Mogador – Wine
• Codorniu – Cava 
• Finca Hostalets – Olive oil
• Freixenet – Cava 
• Galetes Trias – Biscuits
• Giro Ribot – Cava
• Jaume Serra – Cava
• Mel Muria – Honey
• Noel – Cured meats 
• Patatas Torres – Snacks 
• Perelada – Wine
• Roger Goulart – Cava 
• Scala Dei – Wine 
• Terroir Al Limit – Wine 
• Torrons Vicens –  Turrón
• Vichy Catalan – Drinks 
• Vins Grau – Wine 

On the first day, Prodeca's managing director Ramon Sentmartí and the Catalan Government Delegate to South Korea, Jaeyeok Yoon Kang, visited the store accompanied by Hyundai Green Foods' general manager, Bogyu Choi.

Catalan gourmet produce, highly prized in the South Korean market

Hyundai Green Foods is the food subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Group conglomerate and the leader in the Korean food sector. South Korean consumers are highly brand-aware and place great value on product quality. The fine food segment has been consolidating in this market in recent years, and dedicated gourmet sections in supermarkets are increasingly common. 

This initiative was therefore geared towards the positioning of Catalan gourmet produce. During the week of the point-of-sale promotion, the Hyundai Department Store in Pangyo carries more than 100 Catalan gourmet food lines such as Cudié's catànies, Vicens' almond crocant turrón, Trias' assorted biscuits, Vichy Catalan's naturally sparkling mineral water, Can Bech's cheese-pairing jams, Caviaroli's Arbequina extra virgin olive oil pearls and Muria's orange blossom honey with black truffle, as well as a selection of more than thirty wines and cavas from 12 Catalan wineries. 

B2B meetings between Catalan companies organised by PRODECA

The Catalan companies' participation in the promotion at Hyundai Department Store is the result of virtual B2B meetings organised by PRODECA in 2020 and 2021 with distributors, importers and with the Hyundai Green Foods group itself. 

In the last quarter of 2020, a year marked by lockdown, PRODECA organised virtual business meetings between Catalan food producers and importers, distributors and supermarket chains from various strategic markets for the agri-food sector, with support and advice in the destination market from the Prodeca office. One of those online meetings was theOnline B2B Focus On Korea & Taiwan, in which more than 40 direct meetings were arranged between some ten participating Catalan companies and Asian importers, who had been sent the participating companies' product portfolios in advance, along with samples of the selected products, in order to minimise the impact of distance while retaining the added value of the meetings.

Hyundai Green Foods was one of the participating Asian companies looking to expand its gourmet product range. Once its interest in Catalan producers was confirmed, PRODECA organised in 2021 theeBusiness With Hyundai Green Foods, a series of meetings with the supermarket chain based on the buyer's stated needs: more than 40 companies took part, and some have since joined the South Korean company's client portfolio.

Korea, an emerging market

South Korea, one of Asia's most important markets, has undergone a spectacular economic transformation. The Korean food and drink sector is particularly attractive for Catalan companies, which are exporting there ever more: over the last 10 years exports to South Korea have grown 303% in value and 155% in volume. In 2021 South Korea became the 14th destination for Catalan exports (7th outside the EU), with sales of more than €250 million (95% up on the previous year) and volume approaching 100,000 tonnes (50% up on 2020). 

Pork products, olive oil and wine are Catalonia's three star products in South Korea, to which can be added all the high-value, high-quality products, such as fine food, adapted to Korean culture and well suited to Korean consumers' tastes and needs.