South Korea: The world has awakened to the taste of sikhye and ginseng drinks

As Korean beverages continued to enjoy strong exports, they joined the ‘K-Food’ craze. According to the Korea Customs Service on the 31st, Korea's beverage exports, excluding bottled water and alcoholic beverages, recorded $529 million from January to September of this year. This is a 6.3% increase from the same period last year and is the largest ever. The beverage trade balance reached $421 million. Korean beverages are currently exported to 142 countries around the world, of which China exports amounted to $151 million, accounting for 28.5% of the total. It was followed by the United States ($70 million, 13.2%), Vietnam ($48 million, 9%), Cambodia ($39 million, 7%), and Hong Kong ($27 million, 5%). Looking at the proportion by item, items classified as other beverages such as aloe drinks, sikhye, and sujeonggwa were the highest at 58.3%. This was followed by soft drinks at 20.9%, fruit drinks at 12%, ginseng drinks at 8.4%, and non-alcoholic beer at 0.4%. An official from the ...