South Jeolla Province Opens Permanent Agricultural, Marine, and Food Sales Center in Berlin, Germany

South Jeolla Province has strengthened its foothold in the European market by opening a permanent sales center for agricultural and marine products inside Momogoo Mart in Berlin. The store, which opened on the 13th of November, marks the first offline retail location of Momogo – a fast-growing food-tech startup known for operating one of Germany’s leading online platforms for Asian food products.

The dedicated sales space features more than 100 premium items from over 40 Jeonnam companies, including Wando seaweed, Boseong green tea, Goheung citron tea, Naju pear beverages, and Gurye wild vegetables. It also offers trendy products such as pouch drinks and konjac jelly, which are gaining popularity among younger German consumers.

Momogo’s CEO highlighted the growing influence of younger demographics in shaping food trends, stating, “With consumers in their 20s and 30s driving K-food demand, the next five to ten years will be a peak growth period.” He emphasized the company’s commitment to expanding the presence of Jeollanam-do’s high-quality agricultural and marine products across Europe through combined online and offline strategies.

Goheung County is exploring the German market for local agricultural and marine products

Goheung County announced on the 12th of November that it has signed a $5 million export agreement with Momogo, an Asian food ingredient distribution company based in Berlin, marking a major step in expanding overseas markets for its premium agricultural and marine products.

The partnership signals the start of full-scale market development in Germany, where Goheung aims to introduce regional specialties to a broader European audience.

Momogo, known for distributing Asian food ingredients and meal kits through multiple consumer-friendly brands, will gradually bring Goheung’s high-quality products- such as yuzu, seasoned laver, dried vegetables, and rice – to German consumers.

Under the agreement, Goheung County will support the establishment of a stable supply system, while the Eden Food Agricultural Cooperative will manage quality control and shipments, including key products like yuzu beverages.

Momogo will handle distribution and promotional activities in Germany, working to strengthen awareness and expand sales of Goheung’s signature goods.

CJ CheilJedang Joins Forces with Jeollanam-do and Haenam for Sustainable Seaweed Farming

CJ CheilJedang has entered into a strategic partnership with Jeollanam-do Province and Haenam City to develop a sustainable seaweed aquaculture project. This initiative is designed to increase seaweed production while prioritizing environmental sustainability. By incorporating eco-friendly cultivation techniques and leveraging advanced agricultural technologies, the project aims to enhance efficiency in seaweed farming while reducing its ecological footprint.

Additionally, the collaboration is expected to provide economic benefits to the local community by creating jobs and supporting regional businesses involved in the seaweed industry. By expanding the export of high-quality seaweed products, CJ CheilJedang hopes to strengthen South Korea’s position in the global market. This initiative aligns with the company’s long-term commitment to sustainable development, environmental responsibility, and fostering regional economic growth through strategic cooperation.

Collaboration Between Wando and NASA to Promote Sustainable Seaweed Economy and Climate Action

The coastal region of Wando in South Korea, the largest producer of seaweed such as nori, wakame, and kelp, is partnering with NASA to advance the role of seaweed in addressing the climate crisis and achieving carbon neutrality. Wando accounts for 50% of the nation’s seaweed production and has gained international recognition for its sustainable cultivation methods, which require no freshwater or fertilizers.

The collaboration began in 2021 when NASA released satellite images of Wando’s aquaculture sites, highlighting the region’s ideal conditions for seaweed farming and attracting global attention. NASA also emphasized seaweed’s environmental benefits as a carbon sink. The cultural significance of seaweed in Korea, such as its use in postpartum recovery and as a traditional birthday dish, was also noted.

During an upcoming visit, Wando Mayor Shin Woo-cheol will meet with NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E to discuss the development of offshore aquaculture systems and the international certification of seaweed as a blue carbon resource. In 2022, Wando had already expressed gratitude to NASA for promoting Korean seaweed through their analysis and satellite imagery, proposing closer collaboration.

The planned projects aim to advance the marine bioindustry, establish seaweed as a globally recognized carbon-absorbing resource, and encourage sustainable methods in the international aquaculture sector. This partnership has the potential to position Wando as a global leader in sustainable seaweed production.

Korean Week in Dijon

From May 8th to 12th, the Jeollanamdo Europe Office participated in Korean Week, which took place in Dijon, France. This exceptional event attracted people from various regions and provided a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Korean culture. Visitors had the chance to purchase souvenirs, try on traditional Korean clothing, the Hanbok, and take photos in this beautiful attire.

A special highlight of the festival was the diverse workshops. Participants could learn how to prepare kimbap and kimchi themselves, paint traditional Korean masks, and, of course, a K-Pop cover dance workshop was a must.

The focus of the festival was on Korean food. The ingredients were sourced from Jeollanamdo, a region renowned for its high-quality produce. Outside of the workshops, visitors also had numerous opportunities to sample and purchase various Korean delicacies.

The Korean Festival in Dijon was a great success and offered visitors an impressive and unforgettable experience. It helped to bring Korea’s cultural and culinary treasures to a wider audience.

Jeollanamdo at the Museumsuferfest 2023

Jeollanamdo organized this year’s Museumsuferfest from August 25 to August 27 together with the Consulate General and the Korean Tourism Organization to celebrate 140 years of diplomatic relations between Germany and Korea. The Museumsuferfest is a cultural festival that shows the beauty of different cultures and invites the visitors to indulge in different kinds of foods and cultural programs. In the Korea area, people could enjoy various Korean foods and a program completely focused on Korean culture.

There were several food stalls with delicious Korean food and culture booths as well. Jeolllanamdo had its own booths. One of those booths invited people to take part in giveaways, get some information about the region and take some tourism material with them to plan their trip to Jeollanamdo. In the other two booths, the visitors were able to buy and try different foods from Jeollanamdo. They were operated by Kreassive, whose products you can find on the Amazon store “The Kitchen of Korea” and Panasia whos eproducts you can find online and at the K-Shop in Bad Homburg.

The South Korea area also had a stage with various performances from Germany and Korea, that the visitors could enjoy during the three days of the festival. The opening ceremony of the Museumsuferfest was held on that stage with the consul general Kyungsok Koh, the vice governor of Jeollanamdo Park Chang hwan, Elke Voitl, who works for the Department of Social Affairs and Health of the City of Frankfurt and Thomas Feda, Managing Director of Tourismus+Congress GmbH Frankfurt am Main. Dancers from Jeollanamdo and the Kukkiwon Taekwondo team made sure to leave a lasting impression on the visitors during the opening ceremony. Our Jeollanamdo Global SNS Supporters were introduced on stage as well and they received their letter of appointment.

The stage was filled with the passion of the performers showing off their Taekwondo, dancing and music skills. People could listen to a Jazz band, Kpop dance teams and traditional Korean dance groups entertained the visitors and a Jeollanamdo Kimchi workshop showed the visitors how Jeollanamdo Kimchi is made and how it tastes.

The whole festival was closed with beautiful fireworks that also used two Korean songs to focus on the host country South Korea. The Musuemsuferfest this year was visited by about 1,2 million visitors from all over the world.

Launching the Jeollanamdo Travel Cook Box

At the end of 2022 the Jeollanamdo Travel Cook box has been launched by EasyCookAsia and the Jeollanamdo Europe Office.

EasyCookAsia is a startup company from Berlin that creates Asian cook boxes to introduce Asian culture and food to everyone. The company thinks that food builds cultural bridges and that it connects people with other cultures. EasyCookAsia is committed to combine food and culture in one box to open doors to other countries. Customers can travel to different countries from home by getting the holiday feeling while cooking and eating dishes from various Asian countries.

The Jeollanamdo Travel Cook Box was created to introduce Jeollanamdo and its food to people. It contains a culture guide in German, snacks and drinks from Jeollanamdo and two recipe boxes with vegan recipes that can be cooked easily. The culture guide introduces various foods and the places in Jeollanamdo they are linked to. EasyCookAsia and Jeollanamdo see the box as a great opportunity to promote Jeollanamdo tourism and expand the Jeollanamdo food export as well.

Jeollanamdo´s Shop-in-Shop in Bad Homburg

On October 18th, the Jeollanamdo Europe Office opened their second shop-in-shop at the K-Shop in Bad Homburg near Frankfurt in Germany. Several high-ranking representatives of Korean companies officially opened the shop-in-shop that offers many different kinds of snacks, cooking ingredients or tea from Jeollanamdo.

Visitors will especially find many different seaweed products in the “Jeollanamdo corner” since the province Jeollanamdo is very well known for its seaweed. They can also look forward to finding Boseong Green Tea, rice from Jeollanamdo, seaweed noodles and sweet rice snacks.

The K-Shop was opened by Panasia, one of Europe’s biggest Asian food product importers. Panasia has several offline markets around Europe, including Germany and Austria, and is the first offline partner of Jeollanamdo Europe.

Jeollanamdo Europe at the K – Food Fair in Paris

On July 8 and 9 it was the fourth time for the K – Food Fair to be held in Paris. This year the B2B meeting event, organized by the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. (aT Center), was held at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris and not just business people found their way to the festival.

Different Korean brands got the chance to show their variety in products, get in touch with other businesses and promote their products to all the visitors passing by.

The visitors did not only walk around the variety of booths but could also indulge in Korean food at the food stalls, enjoy cooking classes, colorful stage events filled with Taekwondo and K – Pop Dance Cover Performances and could play traditional Korean games. One of the booths that people could visit was the “Jeollanamdo – The Kitchen of Korea” booth. Jeollanamdo promoted various products from local producers and informed the visitors about the brand “The Kitchen of Korea” by introducing the brand to visitors and giving away food samples for free.