Welsh food and drink producers will aim to strengthen and build ties with prospective partners and investors as they visit South Korea this week.
As part of the Welsh Government’s Food and Drink Wales Trade Development Visit to the region from 25-30 March, five food and drink companies from Wales will be given the opportunity to showcase their products to a host of distributors and retail buyers, all looking to secure new business.
The aim of the visit is to leverage networking and collaboration opportunities between the producers, Welsh Government and South Korea as well as strengthening business, trade and tourism relationships.
Commenting ahead of the visit, Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd, Lesley Griffiths, said:
“This trade visit to South Korea provides an opportunity for Welsh food and drink producers to showcase their fantastic products and build new working relationships.
“Exports for the sector have grown in the past decade and the Welsh Government is supporting companies in Wales to see it continue.
“Our export support programme is available to all food and drink businesses and helps aspiring, new and established exporters. I am pleased we are supporting this group of producers to explore the South Korean market first hand and develop further connections.”
The Welsh companies taking part in the Trade Development Visit include Tŷ Nant, Cradoc’s Savoury Biscuits, Havabier, Tan Y Castell and Edwards.
During the visit, delegates will have an opportunity to showcase products to selected buyers, importers and distributors and develop new business through a series of in-market briefings, store visits and meet the buyer opportunities.
North Wales butchers, Edwards, is one producer going to South Korea and hoping to find a suitable trading partner in the region for their pork products.
Jeremy Stoker, UK and International Sales Development Manager at Edwards said,
“Our objective by attending the Trade Development Visit is to build on the ITD desk research funded by the Welsh Government to assess the opportunity for our pork products in South Korea and meet potential customers.”
Bobby Nanua, owner of Tŷ Nant Water in Ceredigion is also hopeful of discovering new export links in South Korea,
““This is a great opportunity to expand our export opportunities to the region. Our aim is to explore opportunities with new customers and distributors within South Korea. Our main focus is retailers, HoReCA premium outlets, 4 and 5 star hotels, high end key restaurants and design led outlets.”
A Welsh virtual trade development visit to South Korea was conducted in June 2021, resulting in a number of businesses securing orders, with orders expected to gross over £1m this year, making South Korea the most successful virtual trade activity conducted by the Welsh Government Food Division. This is because the South Korean market has a large appetite for high-end quality products.
Unlocking new markets brings even greater opportunities for these businesses to not only showcase their quality produce around the world, but also generate more revenue and increase profits.
For more information on how the Welsh Government can assist your business with exporting please visit https://businesswales.gov.wales/foodanddrink/growing-your-business/exporting