Daegu City Targets $90 Million Food Exports This Year... "Shift from Domestic Sales to Exports"

Participation in June Taiwan Food Expo

Promotion Booth at September LA Korean Festival

Daegu City is taking steps to establish overseas distribution networks by operating a Daegu Food Promotion Pavilion at the LA Korean Festival, the largest festival for overseas Koreans, and FOOD TAIPEI, Taiwan's largest food expo.

On the 11th, Daegu City announced that it will actively promote the '2024 Daegu Food Industry Development Plan,' which aims to shift the local food industry from a domestic market focus to an export-oriented one.

According to Statistics Korea, Daegu's food industry sales reached 24.4 trillion KRW in 2021, showing an average annual growth rate of 5.1% over five years. However, the industry is heavily dependent on the domestic market, making it vulnerable to fluctuations in the national economy. It also faces challenges such as losing out to large corporations with strong brand recognition and deteriorating profitability due to price competition.

The Daegu Food Cooperative Promotion Pavilion at the 2022 Singapore Food Expo.

In response, Daegu City plans to create a one-stop support system focused on exports for local food companies, aiming to foster a globally export-driven Daegu food industry as a breakthrough strategy.

The one-stop support system involves three stages: first, identifying promising companies with export potential and supporting customized product development tailored to each country and market; second, assisting with obtaining various international certifications necessary for export, such as Halal, Kosher, and FDA approvals; and third, expanding exports through domestic and international promotional support.

In particular, to strengthen overseas marketing of Daegu food products, Daegu City plans to operate a joint Daegu Food (D-Food) promotional pavilion at the LA Korean Festival held in September this year. The LA Korean Festival, attended by 400,000 people annually, is the largest overseas Korean festival and is expected to provide an excellent opportunity to introduce Daegu food products to the U.S. market. The 51st Los Angeles (LA) Korean Festival will take place from September 26 to 29 at Seoul International Park in LA Koreatown, USA.

Additionally, at FOOD TAIPEI, Taiwan's largest food expo scheduled for June, Daegu will operate a joint pavilion in collaboration with Taiwan's TECO Group to promote D-Food and actively target the food markets in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Founded in 1956, Taiwan's TECO Group started as an industrial motor manufacturer and has grown into one of the world's top three motor producers. It operates 300 chain stores in Taiwan through a joint investment with Japan's MOS BURGER and has recently shown interest in Korean food products.

Furthermore, the Daegu Food Association, a local food organization, will lead efforts to provide overseas market information by country and share success stories among food companies, thereby establishing a public-private cooperative system.

Through this export-focused one-stop support, Daegu City aims to increase the export value of Daegu food products to 90 million USD in 2024, a 16.9% increase compared to the previous year.

An Jung-gon, Director of the Economic Bureau of Daegu City, stated, “We will transform the local food industry structure from a domestic market focus to an export-oriented one through one-stop package support for local food companies. We will also spare no effort to expand overseas distribution networks so that Daegu food products can increase their market share abroad.”