U.S. Chilled Pork Focus of ‘Home Cooking’ Promotion in South Korea

To help Korean consumers prepare restaurant-quality barbecue dishes at home, USMEF and E-Mart launched a promotion that included packages of salted anchovy sauce, fresh wasabi and Himalayan pink salt with purchases of U.S. chilled pork belly and CT butt. Funded by the Indiana Soybean Alliance, the activity promoted U.S. chilled pork as the main ingredient in increasingly popular barbecue dishes. USMEF’s social media channels allowed people to share photos and descriptions of their dishes.

“Single-ribbed belly and CT butt were chosen because Koreans love those two cuts so USMEF is working to educate consumers about new ways of cooking and serving the cuts,” explained Junil Park, USMEF senior marketing manager in South Korea.

Demand for chilled U.S. pork is growing. Korea imported 3,693 metric tons (mt) through the first five months of 2021, compared to annual totals of 3,598 mt in 2019 and 4,325 mt in 2020.

In E-Mart stores in Korea, U.S. chilled pork was the centerpiece of a promotion to encourage cooking barbecue dishes at home