South Korea: Retail Foods
Expansion and diversification of large-scale retail businesses coupled with introduction of information technologies has led a rapid evolvement of the retail food sector in South Korea over the last two decades. Strong consumer demand for value, convenience, diversity and quality generates increased demand for imported food and agricultural products in the sector. The United States remains the leading supplier of consumer-ready food products to the Korean retail food sector. Korea’s imports of consumer-ready food products from the United States totaled a record high $3.6 billion in 2014, up 21.4 percent from the previous year. Reduction of import tariffs under KORUS FTA should provide American products with additional opportunities in the sector.
