October 23, 2024

 

Australia' beef brand sees growing popularity in South Korea

 

 

Aussie Beef has established a strong foothold in the South Korean retail market, becoming one of the most recognisable brands among consumers there, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) said.

 

Its branding as Hoju Chung Jung Woo meaning "clean and safe Australian beef," reflects its image as a high-quality product.

 

South Korea's country of origin labelling laws are designed to inform consumers about the origin of products, particularly food items, to ensure transparency, prevent misleading practices, and protect domestic industries. There are strict rules for meat, including beef. Sellers must clearly indicate whether the meat is domestic or imported, and the specific country of origin must be mentioned.

 

These laws have helped push on-pack Aussie Beef branding at the retail level to help customers differentiate the products' country of origin (COO) when on store shelves, according to MLA.

 

The strategic use of over 1.6 million Aussie Beef branded stickers, produced and distributed by the MLA Korea office annually, reinforces the connection between Australian beef and its "clean and safe" image in consumers' minds. Through many years of continuous investment through MLA's various activities and programmes into the Aussie Beef brand, these stickers serve as a visual guarantee of authenticity and quality to shoppers at the point of purchase.

 

To measure the availability and distribution of the Aussie Beef logo in South Korea, an annual logo penetration survey has been carried out since 2016; the survey initially focused on offline retailers before expanding to include online retailers in recent years.

 

The 2024 penetration survey ran from March–April covering 387 stores nationwide.

 

Some key findings from this year's survey were:

 

    - Of the 387 stores surveyed, the Aussie Beef logo and sticker was found to be present in 95.1% of stores, a slight decrease of 3.1% compared to 504 stores surveyed in 2023;

 

    - In E-mart and Home Plus, two of South Korea's largest retailers, the Aussie Beef logo and sticker were present in 100% of stores surveyed;

 

    - In offline retail, Aussie Beef held a 63% share of imported beef on shelves compared to US beef with a 37% share. This is an increase of 3.8% when compared to the 2023 survey results;

 

The Aussie Beef brand attachment rate for products other than refrigerated products (frozen meat, advertisements, etc.) was 48.6%, an increase of 6.0% compared to the previous year.

 

In highly competitive markets such as South Korea, where consumers can choose between domestic and imported beef and other proteins, ensuring a strong representation and infiltration of the Aussie Beef brand is one of the important aspects of MLA's overall investments and programmes supporting Australian beef, the organisation said.

- MLA