KOREAN STRAWBERRY GAINS POPULARITY ABROAD

[Anchor Lead]

Strawberries grown in Korea are selling well in Hong Kong and Singapore. They are so popular that they’re even given priority on flights to Southeast Asian markets.

[Pkg]

A fruit section at a supermarket in Hong Kong. Strawberries from South Korea are selling well. Korean strawberries are popular because they are sweeter and stay fresh longer than those from other countries. Korea sold strawberries worth more than 60 billion won in overseas markets in 2020 alone. Their popularity in Hong Kong and Singapore is skyrocketing.

[Soundbite] Kim Seok-ju(Head, Hong Kong Branch, Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.(aT)) : "People here are very well aware of Korean strawberries. There are various consumers from high-end retail markets to traditional markets. Korea is likely to surpass the 20mn dollar mark this year for the first time since it began exporting strawberries to Hong Kong."

Farmers try to maintain the high quality of Korean strawberries by differentiating the use of fertilizers, pesticides and even packaging specifications by nations.

[Soundbite] Jeon Sang-hun(Strawberry Exporter) : "Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam all have different allowances for pesticide residues. So only the strawberries that are within those allowances are exported. New pesticides are not allowed."

Strawberries are softer than other fruits, so rapid transport is a must to maintain freshness. Air transport is the only way to supply the fruit during the harvest season of greenhouse strawberries. But the prolonged pandemic and ensuing worldwide logistics gridlock made it difficult to secure flights. Working together with an airliner, the Korean government has agreed to give priority to strawberries when planes travel to Hong Kong and Singapore. Planes loaded with strawberries will fly to Hong Kong twice a day and to Singapore five times a week. The Korean government expects four hundred flights to carry six thousand tons of strawberries for the next five months.