Article written on 2012-03-05, 03:00:00; revised on 2012-03-05, 03:00:00.

 

On March 2nd, a housewife Mrs. Chayiing (61) came to the ‘Korean Products Exhibition’ taking place in the Chu-seong gyo branch of the Lotte Mart, Beijing, China. At the exhibition, she swept up a frying pan, laundry soap, salted seaweed, seaweed packages for bento, a cutting board and more into her shopping cart.

She said, “My son bought cosmetics made in Korea for me and I liked them.” She looked glad to get a chance to buy Korean products, as saying “Usually, there’s nowhere to buy goods from Korea.

On the day of the exhibition, the president of the seaweed food manufacturer ‘Hanbaek’, Hyang-yi Paik, kept crying, “Bring me more rice!” This is because of the Chinese people who flocked to the tasting table.

The president Paik said, “Last November, I met five Chinese buyers. But I could not speak Chinese, so I barely read the emails they sent to me through a translating program. I never thought of replying to their emails.” And, she confessed, “I’m feeling so touched, because I’m now standing on Chinese soil via the Korean hypermarket.” She sold approximately 200 packages of salted seaweed in two days.

 

The ‘Korean Products Exhibition’ presented 177 products of 69 Korean small and medium businesses at the Chu-seong gyo branch, the Yang gyo branch and the Mang-gyeong branch of Lotte Mart, Beijing, China.

Chinese people showed great interest in the exhibition. Since they experienced the melamine milk crisis, Chinese people became sensitive to hygiene and safety.

Now, they welcome Korean products that are “high-priced but of high quality”. Miss Yochan (29), at the tasting table of salted seaweed, asked about the products quality, “Take a new one out and show me.” She also asked, “How many servings are in one package of salted seaweed?” Then, she picked up two packages of salted seaweed.

While selecting Sleeping Pants costing 109 yuan (about 19,326 Korean won), she said, “We can buy Sleeping Pants only for 30 yuan (about 5,319 Korean won). But, Korean products’ have better quality.” In the store, K-Pop music was being played and staff dressed in hanbok (Korean traditional clothes) were serving customers.

 

Staff of some small and medium businesses also smiled. Earlier, they had experienced difficulties in overseas markets due to language barriers and a complex distribution processes. The president of the Yeong-duk Brewery presented makgeolli (Korean raw rice wine), Sang-ho Kim, said, “Last year, we gave up entering the Japanese market since the Japanese retail broker insisted on paying 800 Korean won per product.

If we sell our products for the price he insisted, we would get no margin benefit.” He added, “We created makgeolli containing the Cordyceps Chinese people love.” For two days of the exhibition, he sold 100 bottles of makgeolli.

 

Lotte Mart and the Small and Medium Business Administration of Korea had planned this exhibition in order to open a way to the overseas markets for domestic small and medium enterprises.

The exhibition will open at the three branches in Beijing from March 2nd to 15th, and then, from April 4th to 17th, it will open at five branches in Shanghai.

If a participant company attains satisfactory results in the series of the exhibition, the company can be offered a location in Lotte Mart in China. Last November, companies that were willing to participate in the exhibition applied for the exhibition. Lotte Mart and the Small and Medium Business Administration of Korea selected participants through the products fair. Non-partner companies were able to participate in the exhibition.

Article written on 2012-03-01, 17:08:27; revised on 2012-03-01, 20:31:04.

 

The Lotte Mart helps small and medium businesses enter the Chinese market, by opening the ‘Korean Products Exhibition’ in places like Beijing and Shanghai, China.

On the day of the exhibition, the president of the seaweed food manufacturer ‘Hanbaek’, Hyang-yi Paik, kept crying, “Bring me more rice!” This is because of the Chinese people who flocked to the tasting table.

The president Paik said, “Last November, I met five Chinese buyers. But I could not speak Chinese, so I barely read the emails they sent to me through a translating program. I never thought of replying to their emails.” And, she confessed, “I’m feeling so touched, because I’m now standing on Chinese soil via the Korean hypermarket.” She sold approximately 200 packages of salted seaweed in two days.

 

On March 1st, Lotte Mart said that they would open the Korean Products Exhibition, which would sell products made by some of Korean best small and medium companies, at the Chusenchao Branch, the Yangchao Branch and the Wangjing Branch, Beijing from March 2nd to 15th. The Lotte Mart will open the same event at the five branches in Shanghai between April 4th and 17th. Through this exhibition, 177 products of 69 Korean small and medium businesses will be presented to Chinese consumers.

 

Lotte Mart and the Small and Medium Business Administration of Korea started enrollment for the exhibition from last November. With enrolled companies, a products fair was launched by goods planners of Lotte Mart China as well as staff of the small and medium businesses’ distribution departments. Through the products fair, the final participants were selected.

 

Representative products that will be exhibited at this event are seaweed products, citron teas, ‘Glasslock’ by GNP Marketing, Inc., ‘Rice Makgeolli’ by Yeong-duk Brewery, Inc. and others. In addition, ‘Magic Sleeping Pants’ by Wonjin Trading, ‘Corn Smile Rice Scoop’ by Eco Mass Korea, Inc. and ‘Hot Water Mat’ by Han Mi Green Industry, Inc. will be also on display.