Indonesia’s Export Transactions Reached USD 1.23 Million at the SFH Exhibition in South Korea
The results from the trade contacts during the 4-day exhibition of the Seoul Food and Hotel Exhibition in Seoul were quite encouraging. This statement was made by the Director for Promotion and Image Development, the Directorate General of National Export Development, Ministry of Trade, Pradnyawati. “By the end of the exhibition, the value of the export transaction was recorded at USD 1.23 million, with products of “luwak” coffee and chocolate cacao as the largest portion,” she said.
Indonesia once again participated in the Seoul Food and Hotel (SFH) exhibition held on May 8-11th, 2012, at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX), in Seoul, South Korea, which is an international food and beverage exhibition that is held annually. This year marks the 30th exhibition that covers an area of 53,541 m2, with 2,333 participants consisting of 1,816 exhibitors from Korea and 517 foreign exhibitors.
The delegation from Indonesia was under the coordination of the Directorate General of National Export Development in collaboration with the Indonesian Trade Attaché in Seoul and the Indonesian Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) in Busan. The Indonesian Pavilion was located in Hall E which is the zone for international participants.
In this zone, besides Indonesia, there were 42 other countries participating, such as USA, China, Thailand, Poland Colombia, Canada and Australia. Indonesia’s stand occupied an area of 54 m2 that was shared by 6 (six) companies PT. Selaras Ibu Pratama, PT. Cocomas Indonesia, Sumatra Coffee Luwak, PT. Victory Kopi Luwak Dragon, PT. Wahana Interfood Nusantara and CV. Purnama Raya. During the 4-day exhibition, the Indonesian Pavilion was visited by many South Koreans as well as visitors from other countries. There were twenty five companies that were interested in Indonesian products and would like to explore the opportunity to establish business engagement with Indonesian partners.
Pradnyawati further explained that from the survey conducted by the Indonesian companies during the exhibition, it is apparent that the South Korean consumers favored spicy hot but not too sweet food. Chocolate and coffee were the most popular items that were tasted by the visitors. The margarine made from fish oil also gained a lot of attention from Korean and Japanese buyers. In addition to that, snacks made from fish such as fish crackers were also quite popular and were sought after by the visitors.
The buyers that visited the Indonesian pavilion not only were able to taste the food products that were displayed but were also provided with information on the ingredients, production process, and the export price of these products. Several interested buyers particularly from Korea and Japan, had serious discussions with the producers. The typical buyers from Korea and Japan do not directly engage in a trade cooperation, but usually go through a lengthy negotiation, so up to now the orders are initially just trial orders. However, it is expected that the collaboration may be further strengthened and become sustainable.