Korea Expands Vietnam Food Export Push With Meat Talks, Fruit Trade and Corporate Canteens

Meat Negotiations Open a Wider Trade Push

South Korea is seeking access to Vietnam's markets for heat-treated pork, premium hanwoo beef, duck and lamb after reaching a poultry quarantine agreement last week. Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Song Mi-ryung announced the broader negotiations on Monday, outlining a push that also covers fruit, ingredients for corporate canteens and renewable energy projects in agricultural areas.

Speaking at the ministry offices in Sejong, Song said all the meat categories had reached the third stage of bilateral discussions. Thirteen Korean companies, including Lotte, Maniker and NongHyup Moguchon, have expressed interest in expanding into Vietnam and are negotiating new memorandums of understanding that could speed their entry once quarantine agreements are completed.

The initiative follows President Lee Jae Myung's state visit to Vietnam last week, when quarantine standards and agricultural cooperation featured in bilateral agreements. Seoul is seeking to broaden an economic relationship strongly associated with manufacturing by developing more opportunities for agricultural producers, food suppliers and restaurant businesses.

Vietnam already ranks as Korea's fourth-largest market for K-food exports. Nearly 10,000 Korean firms operate there, while a growing middle class is creating demand for imported foods considered to have high quality and safety standards. Those two sources of demand, corporate operations and household spending, give Korean suppliers several routes into the market.

Song's proposals connect those routes. Meat agreements would allow more products to enter Vietnam, fruit exchanges would take advantage of the countries' different climates, and canteen contracts could give Korean ingredients a regular destination. The energy initiative adds another part to the agricultural partnership, prompted by concerns about oil supplies following the Iran crisis.

What the Poultry Agreement Makes Possible

Korean and Vietnamese authorities reached a quarantine agreement last week enabling Korean poultry exports to enter Vietnam. Such agreements set the animal health and food safety conditions that products must meet before they can cross a border. For producers seeking a new market, securing those conditions is a central step.

Seoul now wants to build on the poultry agreement with heat-treated pork, hanwoo beef, duck and lamb. Hanwoo is the premium Korean beef category included in the negotiations. Together, the proposed additions would turn Vietnam from a destination for a limited selection of Korean proteins into a market for a much broader range of meat products.

Song, the minister leading Korea's agricultural export effort, described the size of the opportunity and the interest among companies in combining different meats:

The Vietnamese meat market is incredibly huge. Some of the Korean firms said mixing poultry and pork together produces better flavors. If the ongoing MOU negotiations reach a quarantine agreement, our livestock exports will definitely accelerate.

The thirteen interested companies are discussing memorandums of understanding, often shortened to MOUs. These documents set out plans for cooperation, while the quarantine agreements govern the conditions for exporting the meat. Song said the discussions had reached their third stage, but no date was given for completing the remaining agreements.

Fruit Trade Built Around Different Climates

Song also discussed fruit trade with Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Environment Trinh Viet Hung during her visit alongside President Lee. Their proposal takes advantage of a practical difference between the countries: their climates support different types of fruit.

Korea proposed exporting kiwi and satsuma oranges, while Vietnam raised lychee and passionfruit. The exchange would give Vietnamese consumers access to Korean fruits grown in a temperate climate and bring tropical Vietnamese specialties into Korean markets.

Song recounted how the two ministers arrived at the proposal:

The Vietnamese minister suggested, Wouldn't it be great if we traded fruit since our climates are so different? So I proposed that Korea export kiwi and satsuma oranges. My counterpart mentioned lychee and passionfruit. This kind of mutually beneficial agricultural trade, hinging on differences in climate, is underway.

The approach would allow consumers to buy seasonal fruits that might otherwise be unavailable or expensive because growing them locally is difficult. It also gives both countries an export opportunity, with Korean producers supplying fruits suited to their conditions and Vietnamese growers doing the same.

An Extra Month for Korean Melons

Korean melon exports to Vietnam began last year, and Vietnam became their second-largest overseas destination, with imports valued at $295,000. The existing trade has already received a practical adjustment through the latest bilateral discussions.

Vietnam agreed to extend the closing month for Korean melon imports from May to June. Moving the end of the permitted trading period by one month gives Korean suppliers more time to ship fruit and creates room for a higher export volume.

Song said the Vietnamese government responded quickly to the Korean request:

We requested that to the Vietnamese government and it took only two days for them to get back to us with an agreement.

The melon decision adds a concrete result to the wider fruit discussions. While kiwi, satsuma oranges, lychee and passionfruit are part of the proposed exchange, melon exporters already have an existing market and a longer period in which to serve it.

Corporate Canteens Become an Export Channel

Nearly 10,000 Korean companies operating in Vietnam provide another potential customer base for Korean food suppliers. Song is targeting the ingredients and prepared meals served in their corporate canteens, where purchasing can be tied to regular workplace meal schedules.

A visit to Hanwha Vision Vietnam in Bac Ninh Province helped shape that idea. The company contracts Korean food service firm Ourhome to provide lunch and dinner every day to approximately 1,000 employees. That arrangement showed how a Korean business operating abroad can connect with a Korean food service supplier.

Song explained what the visit prompted her to pursue:

That got me to pursue exporting Korean food ingredients to Korean companies in Vietnam with their own canteens.

The strategy offers a route around some of the difficulties of entering Vietnam's retail food market. Instead of relying entirely on individual shoppers choosing a new product, suppliers could serve corporate kitchens feeding Korean expatriate workers and local employees who have already developed a taste for Korean cuisine.

Song also met representatives of Lotteria, Bonchon International and Dookki during the visit to discuss ways to expand sales. Those discussions connect the canteen proposal with restaurant supply and other food service businesses, extending the export effort beyond meat and fruit sold directly to consumers.

More Sales Through Several Channels

Vietnam's position as the fourth-largest destination for Korean K-food exports gives the expansion effort an established base. Song acknowledged that its ranking might remain unchanged, while expressing confidence that the MOUs under discussion would accelerate export volume.

A country's ranking and its purchases measure different things. Vietnam could buy more Korean food while remaining fourth if other major markets also grow. Song's stated goal is to increase the amount exported through several channels, including corporate food service, retail and restaurant supply.

The proposed meat agreements, longer melon trading period and corporate canteen strategy address different parts of that goal. Meat negotiations expand the range of products that could enter the market. The melon agreement gives an existing export more selling time. Canteen and restaurant supply discussions seek buyers who can order ingredients repeatedly.

The main developments span several periods:

• July 2024: South Korea and Thailand held their first round of Economic Partnership Agreement talks.
• Last year: Korean melon exports to Vietnam began, with Vietnamese imports valued at $295,000.
• Last week: Korea and Vietnam reached a poultry quarantine agreement during a period that included President Lee Jae Myung's state visit and Song's agricultural discussions.
• Monday: Song announced the wider meat negotiations and described plans involving fruit, corporate canteens and energy.
• This week: Song announced the launch of a task force for renewable energy businesses in Vietnamese agricultural regions.

Vietnam Attracts Competing Meat Suppliers

Korea is entering a market already drawing attention from international meat and fruit exporters. Vietnam's population exceeds 97 million, and sustained economic growth has helped build a middle class willing to pay more for imported foods perceived to meet higher safety and quality standards.

Agricultural trade analysts put Vietnam's annual agricultural imports at more than $42 billion across various categories. The shift from agricultural self-sufficiency toward greater reliance on imports has created opportunities for foreign suppliers, including those selling premium food products.

The United States has established strong positions in beef, pork and poultry. American beef exports have grown substantially in recent years despite competition from countries that benefit from preferential tariffs under free trade agreements. Those tariff preferences lower import duties for qualifying products and can affect the prices suppliers are able to offer.

Chile, one of the world's top five pork exporters, is completing the final procedures to introduce its pork products to Vietnam. Its export push draws on its disease-free status and a free trade agreement signed in 2014.

Australia has also increased its focus on Vietnam. Meat and Livestock Australia has held promotional events presenting Australian beef and lamb to Vietnamese importers and food industry leaders. Korean producers therefore face established competitors as they seek buyers for their own expanded meat range.

Vietnamese consumers' willingness to pay for perceived quality gives Korean products an opportunity to stand apart. Suppliers must also navigate facility registration and sanitary requirements, which have historically created difficulties for new entrants. These procedures concern both the products being sold and the facilities that produce them.

A Wider Southeast Asian Trade Strategy

Korea's agricultural cooperation with Vietnam forms part of a broader effort to strengthen economic ties across Southeast Asia. Parallel negotiations with Thailand show how Seoul is pursuing agricultural and industrial market access in more than one country.

Thailand and South Korea held their first round of Economic Partnership Agreement talks in July 2024. The two countries were targeting completion by late 2025, with Thai officials anticipating increased exports of meat, fishery products and tropical fruits to Korea.

The Thai negotiations and the Vietnamese fruit proposal both involve trade in both directions. Korea is seeking more overseas customers for its producers, while its Southeast Asian partners are pursuing opportunities to sell their own agricultural products to Korean consumers.

Vietnam's role is especially broad in Song's latest initiative. It combines negotiations over animal products, changes to an existing fruit export season, possible exchanges of additional fruits and business discussions involving Korean companies already operating in the country.

Farm Energy Joins the Agricultural Agenda

Song announced a new task force this week to introduce renewable energy businesses in Vietnamese agricultural regions. She cited disruptions to global oil supplies caused by the Iran crisis as a reason to pursue alternatives and reduce Korea's dependence on imported crude oil.

The proposed projects include fuel pellets made from livestock excrement, biogas production facilities and photovoltaic panels on farmland and reservoirs. Fuel pellets turn material into a form that can be burned for energy, biogas uses organic material to produce gas, and photovoltaic panels generate electricity from sunlight.

The initiative is also intended to support sustainable farming practices in Vietnam. It connects agricultural waste and land use with energy production, adding an energy dimension to a partnership otherwise focused on food trade.

Song said Korean farmers were already taking action to reuse materials and called for government proposals to support their efforts:

Korean farmers here are voluntarily staging new self-sustaining movements to recycle and upcycle agricultural materials like livestock excrement or wasted vinyls to improve sustainable farming practices. It is time the government meets their demands by proposing promising agendas.

The combined food and energy approach addresses economic vulnerabilities in both countries. Developing renewable energy capacity within Vietnamese agriculture is intended to support a stable destination for Korean food exports while creating potential arrangements for alternative energy supplies.

Key Points

• Korea reached a poultry quarantine agreement with Vietnam last week and is pursuing heat-treated pork, premium hanwoo beef, duck and lamb.
• Thirteen Korean companies, including Lotte, Maniker and NongHyup Moguchon, are interested in expanding into Vietnam.
• Fruit discussions cover Korean kiwi and satsuma oranges, alongside Vietnamese lychee and passionfruit.
• Vietnam extended the closing month for Korean melon imports from May to June after buying $295,000 worth last year.
• Nearly 10,000 Korean firms in Vietnam provide a potential market for ingredients and prepared meals served in corporate canteens.
• Vietnam is Korea's fourth-largest K-food export market, with competition from suppliers including the United States, Chile and Australia.
• A new task force will pursue renewable energy businesses in Vietnamese agricultural regions, including waste fuel, biogas and solar power projects.