Aussie Beef brand breaking through the Korean market

Aussie Beef has established a strong foothold in the Korean retail market, becoming one of the most trusted and recognisable brands among Korean consumers. Its branding as "Hoju Chung Jung Woo" (호주 청정우), meaning "clean and safe Australian beef," reflects its image in Korea as a high-quality product.

Korea's country of origin labelling laws are designed to inform consumers about the origin of products, particularly food items, to ensure transparency, prevent misleading practices, and protect domestic industries. There are strict rules for meat, including beef. Sellers must clearly indicate whether the meat is domestic or imported, and the specific country of origin must be mentioned (e.g. US, Australia).

These laws have helped push on-pack Aussie Beef branding at the retail level to help customers differentiate the products’ country of origin (COO) when on store shelves.

The strategic use of over 1.6 million Aussie Beef branded stickers, produced and distributed by the MLA Korea office annually, reinforces the connection between Australian beef and its "clean and safe" image in consumers' minds. Through many years of continuous investment through MLA’s various activities and programs into the Aussie Beef brand, these stickers serve as a visual guarantee of authenticity and quality to shoppers at the point of purchase.

To measure the availability and distribution of the Aussie Beef logo in Korea, an annual logo penetration survey has been carried out since 2016; the survey initially focused on offline retailers, however in recent years, has also expanded to include online retailers.

The 2024 penetration survey ran from March–April covering 387 stores nationwide.

Some key findings from this year’s survey were:

• Of the 387 stores surveyed, the Aussie Beef logo and sticker was found to be present in 95.1% of stores, a slight decrease of 3.1% compared to 504 stores surveyed in 2023.

• In E-mart and Home Plus, two of South Korea’s largest retailers, the Aussie Beef logo and sticker were present in 100% of stores surveyed.

• In offline retail, Aussie Beef held a 63% share of imported beef on shelves compared to US beef with a 37% share. This is an increase of 3.8% when compared to the 2023 survey results.

• In online retail, Aussie Beef held a 54% share of imported beef listed compared to US beef’s 44% share – an increase of 1.6% compared to 2023.

• The Aussie Beef brand attachment rate for products other than refrigerated products (frozen meat, advertisements, etc.) was 48.6%, an increase of 6.0% compared to the previous year.

In highly competitive markets such as Korea, where consumers can choose between domestic and imported beef and other proteins, ensuring a strong representation and infiltration of the Aussie Beef brand is one of the important aspects of MLA’s overall investments and programs supporting Australian beef. We continue to educate and share with our partners the intrinsic value of the Aussie Beef brand and encourage them to utilise it wherever possible in point of sale and other promotional materials.