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| Korean cuisine / Korea Times file |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Fostering foreign Korean food experts is one of the key factors to spreading Korean food around the world, according to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Wednesday.
A project on fostering foreign Korean food experts won the top prize in the Korean Food Industrialization Idea Contest run by the KCCI, for emphasizing the need for more non-Koreans to open Korean restaurants in their communities to reach the full potential of Korean food and suggesting the establishment of Korean food education institutions overseas.
Although Korean food is becoming popular around the globe, it has been evaluated that there is still a long way to go toward its full potential. The KCCI also announced the results of a survey on perceptions of the Korean food industry, which was conducted on the 182 participants of the contest from Sept. 10 to Oct. 28.
When asked how successful Korean food globalization was, more than half of the respondents answered positively; 42.1 percent rated it as good and 8.6 percent as very good.
However, many perceived that the industrialization of Korean food still has a long way to go. Only about a quarter of the respondents answered "good" with 20.4 percent, or "very good" with 5.3 percent.
"In the past, Japan and Thailand succeeded in popularizing their food by forming a clear image of it," said Kim Bo-seok, team leader at the Korean Food Promotion Institute. "It is also important how we brand and present our food so that it can be recognized internationally."
Apart from the international popularity of Korean food, it was evaluated that there is a lack of a value chain and industrial structure for Korean food.
Over 48 percent of respondents pointed out the lack of awareness and promotion of Korean food, non-standardized names and recipes at 46.7 percent and difficulty finding ingredients at 33.5 percent as major barriers.
"In order to realize these ideas in the future, we will conduct a feasibility analysis survey with experts, consult on business direction with advisory groups and proceed with government proposals and joint projects with related organizations," a KCCI official said.
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