More South Korean eggs headed for US

More South Korean eggs are poised to make their way into American kitchens as the United States prepares to ramp up imports to stabilize US egg prices, according to news reports on Friday. Speaking to reporters and industry leaders on Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said South Korea would join Turkey and Brazil in bolstering egg shipments to the US. The move comes as part of a broader initiative by the US government to mitigate soaring egg prices, which have reached record highs f

March 21, 2025

Nongshim’s Shin Ramyun Toomba debuts in Malaysia

Korea’s No. 1 ramyeon maker, Nongshim, said Monday that it has launched its new Shin Ramyun type, Shin Ramyun Toomba, in Malaysia by launching a brand shop on TikTok Shop, the leading online platform there. To boost brand awareness, Nongshim appointed top Malaysian singers, including Khai Bahar and Wany Hasrita, as ambassadors. They are promoting the product through the TikTok series “Snow Falling in Busan.” Additionally, the company is strengthening offline marketing by securing placements in m

March 17, 2025

AmCham, Homeplus partner to boost US food imports

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea and Homeplus signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday to expand the import of US food products and strengthen trade cooperation between Korea and the US. The signing ceremony, held at Homeplus' headquarters in Seoul, was attended by AmCham Chairman and CEO James Kim, Homeplus CEO Jo Ju-yeon, and officials from the US Embassy’s Department of Agriculture. This marks the first official partnership under AmCham’s "Buy America" campaign. As part of th

March 13, 2025

Consumer prices rise at 2% level for 2nd month in Feb. on weak Korean won

South Korea's consumer prices rose at a 2 percent level for the second consecutive month in February, driven by a weaker local currency that pushed up import costs, data showed Thursday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, increased 2 percent from a year earlier last month, according to the data from Statistics Korea. This follows a 2.2 percent on-year rise in January, which marked the steepest on-year increase since July. South Korea's consumer inflation has remained below 3 percent sinc

March 6, 2025

Gim prices fall slightly after yearlong climb

After more than a year of steadily rising prices, gim, crispy dried seaweed, has finally seen a slight decline in cost. According to data released Tuesday by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the average retail price for 10 sheets of dried gim stood at 1,400 won ($0.96) as of Feb. 28. That marks a decrease of 27 won from the previous week and 76 won from the prior month. Despite the drop, prices remain high — 25 percent above last year’s 1,119 won. For 12 consecutive months, gim

March 4, 2025

South Koreans consumed 30kg of pork per person in 2024

The average South Korean consumed an estimated 30 kilograms of pork last year, according to data released Monday. South Korea’s livestock cooperative designated March 3 as Samgyeopsal Day — the date referring to the three layers of fat that give the cut its name — to promote sales of pork belly, with local retailers often running special discounts. According to data from the Korea Rural Economic Institute, last year’s per capita pork consumption marked a 6.8 percent increase from the five-year a

March 3, 2025

Sweet success: Choco Pie tops 4b unit sales

Orion's iconic snack Choco Pie surpassed 4 billion units sold last year, marking the highest annual figure since its launch in 1974. Orion on Thursday unveiled key sales figures to celebrate the snack's 50th anniversary. According to the company, total sales since the product's launch have exceeded 50 billion units, with cumulative revenue surpassing 8 trillion won ($6 billion). In particular, 67 percent of sales, or 5.5 trillion won, came from overseas markets. Orion attributed its success to i

Feb. 27, 2025