Kiwi recipes and products hit Seoul

New Zealand food and beverage companies meeting with Korean consumers.

Twelve New Zealand food and beverage companies joined forces on 6 November to share New Zealand recipes and products with over 170 experts from the Korean food and beverage industry.

The experts included top chefs, menu developers and buyers from major hotels, restaurant chains and catering companies, retailers/distributors, food manufacturing companies, journalists and power bloggers. Many came from outside of Seoul to check out the Kiwi cuisine, including Gwangju and Cheongju.

The event, organised by NZTE Seoul at the Seoul Plaza Hotel, was also a valuable chance for the New Zealand companies to learn more about how their products could be used in the Korean market. Ambassador Patrick Rata noted in his welcome speech the importance Korean consumers placed on safe, high quality food. This is a strong selling point for New Zealand products. S.B Jang from leading PR company Edelman Korea emphasised the importance of social media in communicating  with Korean consumers.

New Zealand food and beverage on offer included beef, lamb, kiwifruit, guacamole, fruit and vegetable puree and powder, honey, beef jerky, juice, energy drinks, beer, syrup and Greenshell mussels.