"Sold 100 Million Won Worth in 50 Days in Nice"... K-Food Loved by French Grandmother

Interview with Kim Jik, CEO of Global K-Food Distributor RueRang

Rueirang opened a K-food store called 'NUKIM' at Carrefour located in Nice, France.

"The popularity of K-food in Europe? Even rural grandmothers are completely hooked."

Kim Jik (41), CEO of the K-food startup Luerang, opened an offline store called 'NUKIM' at Carrefour in Nice, France, on the 2nd of last month, following a proposal from Carrefour, the largest retail company in France. This is the first offline store established in France since Kim founded Luerang in 2021. Kim said, "Nice is a small provincial city where almost no Koreans live, but we have already sold 100 million KRW worth of Korean food within 50 days of opening the store," adding, "People from nearby small cities like Antibes and Cannes, as well as Marseille, which is three hours away by car, are visiting our store."

Luerang is a food distribution startup. It has bases in Seoul, the UK, Germany, and France, targeting the European market. Its main brands include Maison de Kore and Korean Street. Although the company has about 20 employees and is not yet large in scale, it exported food to about 20 countries last year and received the '10 Million Dollar Export Tower' award. This year, the sales target is 50 billion KRW.

Kim started in the food distribution business in 2011 while working in the overseas business department of GMF, a frozen food manufacturer run by his father. GMF is a small-to-medium enterprise with sales of 70 billion KRW that supplies frozen dumplings to companies like Haitai and Pulmuone through OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) and ODM (Original Design Manufacturing) methods. Kim, who has been pioneering markets mainly in Germany, the UK, and France, established Luerang separately in 2021 to develop his own brand and became independent.

Kim Jik Rue-rang, CEO.

Kim first entered the French market in 2015 while at GMF. He said, "Since my father’s time, we mainly did OEM business, so I had a strong desire to have our own brand," adding, "France has many long-loved brands including luxury goods, so I wanted to learn branding here and gain recognition."

Kim had been supplying Korean foods such as dumplings, ramen, and beverages to supermarkets in major cities like Paris, and started placing products in Carrefour from 2017. Most of the products on Carrefour’s shelves were Japanese, Thai, or Chinese foods. However, as K-pop and K-dramas gained popularity, interest in Korean food grew. Carrefour, unable to ignore the rising demand for Korean food, signed a contract with Kim, who was already supplying Korean food in Germany, the UK, and other places.

After K-food succeeded at Carrefour, in 2021 Carrefour made a proposal to Kim. They were curious whether K-food would be successful in rural areas, not just in densely populated urban shopping centers, and asked him to choose a suitable region. They also promised to open an offline K-food store for Luerang there. Kim said, "Nice in southern France is a resort city with many tourists and Carrefour stores there rank high in sales, making it ideal for opening an offline store," adding, "Even rural grandmothers in Nice frequently visit the K-food store, which has made Carrefour very satisfied."

A foreigner is having a meal at Rueirang's K-Food store 'Neukkim' located in the Carrefour store in Nice, France.

Kim said that the essence of K-food’s popularity is not simply foreigners buying tteokbokki or ramen at large supermarkets. True globalization of K-food means that when making their own traditional dishes, people seek out and use traditional Korean ingredients. Kim explained, "It’s not just that an Italian buys gochujang one day and tries making gochujang jjigae, but when they add gochujang to pasta and discover a completely new flavor, that’s when the power of K-food becomes apparent," adding, "Each country’s cuisine is a long-standing custom and culture, so it’s not easy to change traditions, but seeing K-food gradually bring about change is rewarding."

Following France, Kim plans to establish a corporation in Germany this year to intensify efforts to conquer the European market. He said, "Korean food sells better when Koreans sell it directly, even if they are not fluent in the local language, rather than local people who are fluent," and added, "We plan to hire many talented people who share the same vision for K-food’s direction to expand our presence overseas."