S. Korea’s market share of the imported processed nuts in
Japan was 0.2% in 2015, but it currently records 280 times growth up to 56.1% by the September
of this year.
"Do drugs feel like this? South Korean 'Honey Butter Nuts'
are too much addictive"
▶Source: S. Korean Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT)’s Tokyo Branch
In June, there was a review of S. Korean "Honey Butter
Almond" reported by a Japanese media, Rocket News 24. The popularity of S.
Korean nuts in Japan is extraordinary now. For foreign tourists from Japan and
China coming to S. Korea, it has become a must-have item, and S. Korean processed
nut products have overwhelmingly topped in the market share for imported
processed nuts in Japan.
S. Korean processed almonds have as well overpowered
American processed ones in the Japanese market.
According to the recent statistics of Japan's Ministry of
Finance in regard to import status for processed nuts, import
values and volumes of processed nuts from S. Korea have increased significantly
in the last 5 years. The import value in the 2015 was merely 780,000 yen,
and it has grown about 582 times up to 455.3 million yen by the September of
this year. During the same period, the quantity increased 611 times from 525 kg
to 321,139 kg.
For the imported processed nuts market share in Japan, S.
Korean processed nuts occupies 56.1% this year, compared to 0.2% at the end of
2015 in the Japanese market for processed nuts. It is about three times higher
than the U.S. (18.7%), a global major almond power.
According to the S. Korean Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade
Corporation (aT)’s Tokyo Branch, current trends suggest that the export of S.
Korean processed nuts to Japan is expected to exceed by 400,000 kg (400 tons) by
the end of this year.
In fact, although it is a processed product from S. Korea,
almost all raw materials such as almonds (99%) are imported from the United
States and others so then processed by the S. Korean food companies. Those
companies play the role of processed food exporter. Compared to the average
unit price, the price of S. Korean almonds is about 1,415 yen per kg, which is
about twice as much as that of China (about 751 yen). It is cheaper than the
United States (1,518 yen) but belongs to the second highest price among Japan's
major importing countries. So then why are S. Korean almonds so popular for Japanese?
At the time of 2014, when S. Korean Haetae Confectionery Co.’s
"Honey Butter Chips" recorded the mega-hits, a request from a
distribution agency to add the honey butter flavor to almonds as a substitute
was received by a S. Korean nut manufacturer Gilim Co. Therefore, Gilim has presented the product by coating the outside of almonds with a sugar solution using
butter and honey through its unique secretive method that makes the almonds
less sticky and not damp at the same time.
The result was such a bonanza. Since launching its first
export in the 2015, "Honey Butter Almonds" are now exported to 16
countries, including Japan, China, Hong Kong, the UAE, etc. The whole new tastes
that have never been experienced are more understood abroad. In the 2015,
Chinese tourists began to post on social networking services, "We bought "Honey
Butter Almond" in S. Korea and it's really delicious" and "sweet,
perfectly seasoned and addictive." And it has gone viral so then, there has
come a big hit in Japan as well.
At present, numerous Japanese and Chinese tourists come to S. Korea
to purchase Honey Butter Almonds, and the sensational products has also been entered and sold at the Japanese
supermarket Don Quixote. In Japan, nut is regarded as a healthy food that is abundant
with source materials, which make good hormones and useful vitamins, rich in
vegetarian ingredients, proteins and minerals, has high potassium content, and also helps
prevent hypertension and heart disease. Along with various flavors and the coating
powder that is not sticky when picked up by hand, and the convenient storage
capability, those are cited as the strengths only for the S. Korean products.
An official personnel at the Tokyo branch said, “S. Korea is
not a country with highest amount of nut production, but a good example for
securing export channels with advanced technology.” We hope that marketing
promotions for the available subsidiary foods to go along with nuts, which are such as breakfast cereals, salads, etc. will lead to the better synergies."
▶Source: Money Today
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