‘Momentum building’ in Korean market for Australian table grapes, says ATGA

The Australian table grape industry is making good progress in the South Korean market, with the Taste Australia brand recently launched for the Oceanian country’s horticultural products.

Hort Innovation said that Hyundai, one of Korea’s largest luxury retail chains, is now stocking only Australian table grapes.

Hyundai representatives attended a trade seminar and networking lunch in Seoul which marketed the Australian grapes primarily sourced from Victoria.

Two major Korean table grape importers also departed for Australia to visit Victoria’s table grape growing regions to discuss sourcing exporters.

“The visiting importers toured a number of Victorian farms, viewing the high standard of food safety measures for which Australia is renowned, tasting produce and learning more about farm operations,” said Hort Innovation chief executive John Lloyd.

“Feedback from participating growers and the importers was fantastic. The exercise led to the broadening of lucrative trade opportunities and valuable relationships with key importers that we expect will last for many years to come”.

The success of the activities was put down to the collaborative efforts of the Australian Table Grape Association (ATGA), Austrade and Trade Victoria.

ATGA chief executive Jeff Scott said the feedback from the trade seminars was also extremely positive and Australian exporters welcomed the chance to meet with several leading fruit traders.

“Importers and exporters were eager to hear how the Australian season was shaping up. They wanted to know what they could expect to see in market as well as in in-store promotional activities,” he said.

This year is the fifth since the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement came into force and the tariff on Australian grapes was eliminated.

In 2016-17, South Korea mainly imported grapes from Chile, Peru and the U.S., with Australia being the only other exporter with just a 0.32% market share.

“South Korea is an exciting, emerging market with momentum building to increase trade,” Scott said.

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