▲ Vietnam Food Expo

'Chungnam Seweed' is accelerating its expansion into the Asian market.

The province announced on the 12th that at the '2025 Ho Chi Minh Food Expo' held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in Vietnam from the 6th to the 9th, companies from the province achieved a total of $2.87 million in export consultations and signed a $1 million export memorandum of understanding.

The expo is one of the largest food trade shows in Southeast Asia, with over 1,000 companies from more than 20 countries (including 99 Korean companies) participating and an estimated 39,100 visitors.

The province formed a delegation with the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) and three seaweed processing companies. During the expo, they conducted a total of 50 one-on-one export consultations with local buyers.

Star Food Co., Ltd., which specializes in seasoned laver with tripe, successfully converted one of its 14 export consultations, totaling $2.56 million, into a $1 million export agreement, expanding its network of new buyers and local distribution channels.

Daeyang Fisheries Cooperative, which mainly produces dried laver, pursued export expansion through 16 consultations totaling $155,000 and discussions about establishing a local factory in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Myungpoom Seaweed Co., Ltd., which produces seaweed snack products, is targeting the Vietnamese market through 20 export consultations totaling $155,000 and promoting its dried seaweed crisp snack (using Vietnamese ingredients).

The province believes that the high quality and taste of Chungnam's seaweed products, along with the strong trust of local consumers in Korean-made seaweed, attracted the attention of buyers in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.

Seaweed export value, which ranks first among all Korean agricultural and marine exports, reached a record high of $997 million as of the end of last year, a nine-fold increase from $110 million in 2010.

Although the province's share of raw seaweed production is only 6-7%, it accounts for 19.5% of the nation's total export value, reaching $195 million, primarily from dried and seasoned seaweed.

Of the $195 million, exports to the Asian market amounted to $84 million. With contracts totaling $55 million already signed for the Asian market this year, the province expects to surpass last year's performance.

A provincial official said, "Our participation in this expo confirmed the brand recognition and market potential of our province's seaweed and other processed marine products." They added, "We will continue to diversify our export markets and achieve more export successes by providing various marketing and support measures to back up our overseas exports."

Department Marine & Fisheries Industry Division, Seaweed Industry Team

Phone Number 041-635-4844