Udeumji Farm Begins Exports to UAE in First Half of the Year... Establishing a Foothold for Global Expansion

Smart farm comprehensive solution company Udeumji Farm is accelerating its expansion through overseas advancement.

It is expected that within this year, they will officially start exporting their main product, stevia tomatoes, in partnership with the largest agricultural company in the Middle East.

Udeumji Farm, the only smart farm specialized company in Korea, was established in 2011. Its main business is operating smart farms using an advanced ICT technology-based convergence cultivation environment management system. They process and store fruits and vegetables such as stevia jujube cherry tomatoes and fully ripened tomatoes (Tomango) grown in smart farms. Currently, Udeumji Farm is the number one company in the domestic stevia tomato market, holding about 70% of the total market share.

According to independent research firm Valuefinder on the 24th, Udeumji Farm is expected to start exporting stevia tomatoes to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as early as the first half of this year. Early last year, Udeumji Farm accompanied the government’s UAE visit as part of an economic delegation and signed a business agreement (MOU) worth 14.8 billion KRW with Illite Agro, the largest local agricultural company.

Once exports become full-scale, sales growth is expected to gain more momentum. Valuefinder said, “The export price to the UAE is known to be about twice that of the domestic price, which is expected to significantly contribute to sales growth.”

Udeumji Farm’s sales, which were 11.4 billion KRW in 2019, grew to 56.6 billion KRW by the end of last year. If overseas sales become visible this year, the growth rate is expected to accelerate further.

So far, Udeumji Farm has drawn a blueprint to actively enter overseas markets. They anticipated increasing domestic and international demand for the introduction of highly productive smart farms. This is because rural aging is progressing, and agricultural supply worldwide is becoming unstable due to climate change and other factors.

In fact, the overseas smart farm market is growing explosively. According to market research firm MarketUS, the global smart farm market size is expected to grow nearly threefold from 25.4 trillion KRW in 2022 to 68.9 trillion KRW last year.

Starting with the Middle Eastern market where they opened the door, Udeumji Farm is expanding its territory to Southeast Asia and beyond. Beginning last year with UAE’s Illite Agro, they have successively signed MOUs with Ringmun and Bioway in Vietnam, Jamin Green World in Uzbekistan, RBK Holdings in the UAE, and Badia Financial Center in Saudi Arabia. In the same year, agricultural ministers and officials from eight African countries also visited Udeumji Farm’s production sites.

Earlier this year, to accelerate global business, they recruited CEO Yoon Dong-ryul, who is proficient in overseas sales operations. CEO Yoon gained experience in finance and overseas sales through Hyundai Merchant Marine’s sales department, a database company, and a piping materials company.

Researcher Lee Chung-heon of Valuefinder said, “It is necessary to pay attention to profit margin improvements due to the full-scale export and increased sales of European-style vegetables in the future,” adding, “With the completion of the European-style vegetable greenhouse in June, product diversification and profit margin improvement are expected through the cultivation of new crops such as romaine and butterhead.”