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The 44th Seoul International Food Exhibition in South Korea has opened with great fanfare, as Shandong-based enterprises have assembled to tap into the Korean market.
06-10
On June 9, the 44th Seoul International Food Exhibition (Seoul Food) grandly opened at KINTEX Exhibition Center in Seoul, South Korea. Hosted by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), this is South Korea’s oldest, largest and most authoritative professional international food show, ranking among Asia’s four premier food expos. It consistently gathers upstream and downstream resources from the global food industrial chain, serving as a core trade matching platform for tapping into markets in South Korea and Northeast Asia.
This year, Shandong Brightway International Exhibition Co., Ltd. took the lead in coordinating and organizing more than 50 high-quality domestic enterprises to participate in the exhibition, with local Shandong firms forming the main contingent. The exhibitors showcased the full-chain strengths of Shandong’s agricultural products, pre-made seasonings, as well as food packaging and processing machinery, enabling precise connections with massive purchasing channels of South Korean retailers, supermarkets and catering businesses.
Seoul Food 2026 hit a new record in scale this year, covering a total exhibition area of 76,000 square meters and bringing together 1,800 exhibitors from 49 countries worldwide, among which 353 are Chinese enterprises, marking a continuous expansion of China’s delegation. The composition of participating delegations has also seen comprehensive upgrades. Beyond traditional food processing categories, there has been a notable surge in exhibitors specializing in food packaging and intelligent food machinery, fully demonstrating the integrated upstream and downstream supporting capacity of China’s food industry.
South Korea is the largest overseas importer of Shandong’s agricultural products, underpinned by deep bilateral trade ties. Shandong consistently ranks first in China’s agricultural exports to South Korea. Ninety-nine percent of South Korea’s imported kimchi comes from China, and Shandong accounts for over 90% of that supply alone. Pingdu in Qingdao single-handedly supplies 70% of China’s kimchi exports to South Korea. In recent years, Shandong’s annual agricultural export volume to South Korea has remained steady at nearly 20 billion yuan. Vermicelli, frozen fruits and vegetables, seasoned pickles and freeze-dried ingredients have long dominated South Korea’s import market for corresponding product categories. Boasting three core strengths—geographical proximity, matching consumer tastes and mature supply chains—Shandong enterprises emerged as the most sought-after overseas delegation by South Korean buyers at this year’s show.
Brightway International secured a total booth area of 450 square meters for this exhibition, with participating enterprises hailing from six core industrial cities and prefectures: Yantai, Weifang, Jinan, Binzhou, Jining, Linyi and Dongying. Their exhibited products span the full spectrum of the industrial chain from raw ingredients to production equipment and packaging supplies, including vermicelli, frozen fruits and vegetables, marinated pickles, compound condiments, freeze-dried produce, specialty beverages, eco-friendly food packaging boxes and fully automatic food processing machinery. Many exhibitors unveiled new products tailored to South Korea’s health-conscious consumption trends, such as low-salt kimchi, ready-to-eat freeze-dried food and lightweight eco-friendly packaging, sparking vigorous on-site business talks. A person in charge of a condiment enterprise commented: “The South Korean market is our stable core overseas sales base. Over years of market expansion via this exhibition, we have built up a solid roster of long-term cooperative clients.”
For years, Shandong Brightway International Exhibition Co., Ltd. has closely aligned its work with the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce’s market development initiative “Thousands of Enterprises Go Global: Shandong Trade Connects the World”. Rooted in Shandong’s status as a major agricultural province and powerhouse of the food industry, the company has deeply cultivated key foreign trade markets including South Korea, Europe and South America. It has supported thousands of small and medium-sized Shandong food manufacturers and traders to venture overseas and build stable overseas sales channels.
In the second half of the year, leveraging provincial subsidies supporting enterprises’ overseas market expansion, Brightway International will make targeted layouts in competitive sectors including cross-border e-commerce, new energy energy storage, bulk commodities and food. It will organize enterprises to participate in multiple high-value overseas professional exhibitions, such as the Thailand Cross-border E-commerce Sourcing Fair, Peru International Food Exhibition, China Commodities Fair (Lagos, Nigeria), and the Energy Storage & New Energy Technology Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany. Through exhibition-driven trade, the company will help Shandong stabilize foreign trade volume, optimize trade structure and elevate brand influence, continuously burnishing the iconic overseas trade brand “Thousands of Enterprises Go Global: Shandong Trade Connects the World”.(Reproduced from Qilu Network)
