Agri-food exports 'largest ever' by the third quarter of this year

Recently, K-foods such as ramen and snacks continued to grow, reaching nearly 10 trillion won in agri-food exports by the third quarter of this year, the highest ever.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said agri-food exports rose 8.3% to about 9.632 trillion won in the nine months of this year compared with the same period last year, the highest performance as of the end of September.

In particular, exports of ramen, snacks, beverages, and rice-processed foods all reached new highs.

Exports of rice-processed foods such as frozen gimbap rose 41.6% year-on-year through the third quarter, up 29.6% for instant noodles, 15.5% for snacks and 13.6% for beverages.In the case of

ramen, exports to Latin America increased significantly, resulting in a whopping 122.6% increase in exports to Mexico.

Meanwhile, exports of fresh produce such as pears and grapes fell 0.6% in the first half of the year due to a shortage of supplies.