A football fan looks at CJ CheilJedang's Bibigo products at a K-Food zone in Doha, Qatar, on Dec. 4. Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang

CJ, Nongshim, Daesang, Samyang launches aggressive marketing at Qatar World Cup

By Kim Jae-heun

Football is not the only boom in Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries. Korean food is captivating the taste buds of many locals as the popularity of Korean culture spreads in the region, according to food industry officials.

Over the past few years, sales of Korean food items there have grown rapidly thanks to YouTube content, like "Buldak Ramen" challenges with Samyang Foods' instant noodle, and the Oscar-winning film Parasite that featured Nongshim's "Jjapaguri" noodle product.

As the market for Korean foods shows potential there, local food firms like CJ CheilJedang, Daesang, Nongshim and Samyang Foods have started expanding their business in the Middle East. They are especially taking advantage of the ongoing World Cup to promote their products.

CJ CheilJedang has already begun selling its popular products such as dried seaweed, kimchi and instant rice under its global Korean food brand Bibigo at 10 local large discount Almeera stores in Doha during the World Cup. The company plans to promote its Korean food products until the end of this month and expand its business in 68 Almeera stores afterward.

"In October alone, our sales of Bibigo's dried seaweed and kimchi products surged 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively, year-on-year. We are focusing on strengthening our marketing to increase sales in the Middle East," a CJ CheilJedang official said. The food company expects to achieve over 16 billion won in exports from the Middle East this year.

The country's No.1 meal kit maker Fresheasy sells 17 types of food items in Dubai and Saudi Arabia at One Mart, a local online and offline retail channel. Its ready-made products include stir-fried octopus, seaweed soup and soup-tteokbokki. Tteokbokki is a stir-fried rice cake made with red pepper paste.

"With the trend of consuming healthy foods going viral in the Middle East, local consumers have become more interested in Korean food, which is low in calories and made with vegetables mainly. Our food items made with sea mustard and sea fulvescens are selling well," a Fresheasy official said. The food firm plans to achieve $5 million (6.6 billion won) in export this year based on its business expansion in the Middle East market.

Samyang Foods' popular Buldak Ramen / Courtesy of Samyang Foods

Korean instant noodles are the best-selling food item in general. They account for 30 percent of sales in the instant noodle market in the Middle East. In Qatar, especially, Korean instant noodles are said to have taken over the local large discount stores. Qatar imports all of its instant noodle products as it does not have the food production facilities and Korean noodles take up the largest proportion. Samyang Foods' Buldak Ramen and Nongshim's Shin Ramen are the most popular items there.

"Apart from Buldak Ramen, our products like Kimchi Ramen are gaining popularity. We expect our sales to mark 1.5 billion won ($1.13 million) in Qatar alone and more than 35 billion won in the entire Middle East market this year," a Samyang Foods official said.

Korea Ginseng Corporation (KGC) also started selling its red ginseng products at 200 local supermarkets including Carrefour and Holland & Barrett.

"At first, our red ginseng products sold well among male consumers as it went viral for its good effects on stamina. Recently, they are also becoming popular among female consumers as many learn the product helps with strengthening their immunity," a KGC official said.

Daesang is selling products like kimchi, tofu and pickled radish at nearly 20 Carrefour and Lulu stores in Qatar and Iraq.

There are not many Koreans in the Middle East, so we believe that it is more important to target local consumers. We are slowly increasing our sales by allowing people to try our food at local stores," a Daesang official said. The number of Korean residents is estimated at 20,000 in the Middle East, where its population is about 400 million.