[스페셜타임스 정시환 기자] Hello, this is the video news team of Special Times, an internet media company.
This news is about Daesang’s full-scale operation of the Los Angeles factory…
Daesang announced on the 29th that it had completed the construction of a large-scale kimchi factory in the United States for the first time in the domestic food industry and started full-scale production.
Daesang plans to efficiently respond to the rapidly growing demand for kimchi in the US market through its LA plant, and expand the supply of localized kimchi to Western regions such as Europe, Canada, and Oceania by using the US as an outpost for globalization of Jonggajip Kimchi in the future. said.
The Daesang LA plant, located in the City of Industries near Los Angeles, California, has been completed with a total land area of 10,000 square meters (3,000 pyeong). With an investment of about 20 billion won so far, we have built a manufacturing line capable of producing 2,000 tons of kimchi per year and infrastructure such as a warehouse for raw materials. This is the only Korean food company that has large-scale kimchi production facilities in the United States.
Daesang aims to achieve annual sales of 100 billion won in the U.S. local food business by 2025 by sequentially expanding automation facilities and facilities.
Daesang’s LA plant is Daesang’s tenth overseas production base. Daesang recorded ‘Korea’s first plant export’ and entered Indonesia in 1973, and has been operating food, bio, and starch sugar factories in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and China. The Daesang LA plant is the first overseas plant outside of Asia.
The kimchi produced at the Daesang LA plant includes a total of 10 types including Jongga original kimchi that utilizes the taste of traditional kimchi, vegan kimchi that reflects local American food culture and trends such as gluten-free and vegan, white kimchi, beet kimchi, pickle radish, flavored kimchi, and cabbage kimchi. no see. By adding locally produced products to the products exported from existing domestic factories, we have expanded the range of choices for local consumers. The kimchi brand distributed in the United States is also applied as ‘Jongga’, which can be easily expressed by locals.
Daesang expects to dramatically improve in terms of efficiency in production, distribution, and sales management of Jonggajip Kimchi in the United States through the full-scale operation of the LA plant. We have been able to respond quickly to consumer needs and operate flexibly and stably in the supply and demand of raw materials. In addition, it is expected that sales management according to demand forecasting will be possible and product freshness will be secured.
The main raw materials for kimchi products produced at the Daesang LA plant, such as Chinese cabbage, radish, and green onion, are procured locally and used. Daesang is known to have selected high-quality raw materials that can best realize the taste of traditional and localized kimchi through years of market research and R&D, and secured a stable local supplier.
The global status of kimchi, where Daesang is leading exports, is increasing day by day. According to the import and export statistics of the Korea Customs Service, domestic kimchi exports more than doubled from $79 million in 2016 to $159.9 million in 2021, recording the largest ever. Export target countries also expanded from 61 countries in 2011 to 89 countries in 2021.
Daesang has been driving kimchi exports around the world, including the United States. Daesang’s Jonggajip Kimchi exports increased by 131% from $29 million in 2016 to $67 million in 2021, reaching an all-time high. Daesang accounts for more than 40% of Korea’s total kimchi exports and ranks first.
Jonggajip Kimchi is currently sold in over 40 countries around the world, including the Americas, Europe, Oceania, China, Japan, and Singapore. Locals consume more than 90% of Japan’s exports and 80% of those exported to Asia, and its popularity is increasing, and the number of locals looking for kimchi is also increasing in Western countries such as the Americas and Europe. When the Daesang LA plant starts operating in earnest, it is expected that the demand for kimchi from around the world will increase, starting from the US.
In particular, the US is the second largest exporter of kimchi after Japan, and the demand for kimchi is increasing every year. The amount of kimchi exported from Korea to the United States in 2021 was $28.25 million, an increase of 22.5% compared to the previous year, and more than ten times higher than $2.79 million in 2011.
In 2014, Daesang was the first in the domestic industry to acquire the Kosher certification mark, which is considered a food safety reliability standard in North America and Europe, adding strength to the export of kimchi to the United States. Daesang Jonggajip Kimchi’s exports to the United States also reached $16.17 million in 2021, up 37.8% from the previous year. Compared to $4 million in 2017, exports more than quadrupled in five years.
It is known that the active reason that local Americans became interested in kimchi was the Korean food documentary ‘Kimchi Chronicle’, which aired on PBS in the US in May 2011. The appearance of French 3-Michelin-star chef Jean-George, his half-Korean wife Marza, and the use of kimchi in various dishes left a big impression on the locals. In particular, Hugh Jackman and Heather Graham also appeared together, showing deep interest.
In February 2013, Michelle Obama made headlines by posting on her Twitter that kimchi was made with cabbages grown in the White House garden.
Since then, interest in kimchi in the United States has increased significantly due to the K-food craze and Corona, and with the passing of resolutions to enact ‘Kimchi Day’ in Virginia and New York in February 2022, starting with California in August 2021, kimchi was passed. It is proving that the US interest in the
Daesang plans to further expand Jonggajip Kimchi in large stores such as Wal-Mart and Costco, which are popular with local Americans, through the full-fledged operation of the LA plant. Jonggajip Kimchi is gradually increasing the number of stores starting with Walmart in 2021. Going forward, we will continue to push forward to enter the US local mainstream channels.
In the past, more than 90% of kimchi consumption in the United States was centered on local Koreans. This phenomenon is facilitating the entry of kimchi into the US mainstream, and is expected to accelerate with the Daesang LA plant as an opportunity.
Lim Jeong-bae, CEO of Daesang, said, ‘The US market is significant in that it is an outpost for the globalization of kimchi. We plan to strengthen development, and we are considering a plan to expand the plant in the future once the Los Angeles plant in the western US is stabilized.”
It was the video news team of the Special Times.
1. Daesang LA factory view
2. Daesang completed the LA plant and started full-scale production. At the plant completion ceremony, Daesang America CEO Choi Chang-woo (fourth from left) and plant officials, local business partners and consumer panels are cutting the tape.
3. Daesang completed the LA plant and started full-scale production. Daesang America CEO Choi Chang-woo (third from left in the front row), factory officials, local business associates, and consumer panels are taking a commemorative photo.
4. Daesang LA Plant employees and consumer panels are examining Jonggajip Kimchi products produced in the US.
5. Jongga Original Kimchi 300g Product Image
6. Jongga Vegan Cabbage Kimchi 80g Product Image
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