On the 15th (local time), a luxury apartment in central London. Under the direction of Korean American star chef Judy Joo (Judy Joo), attendees carefully rubbed red seasoning into salted napa cabbage. They stuffed seasoning between each cabbage leaf, repeatedly saying it was "spicy but addictive."
This was the scene of a kimchi-making class described by the BBC, the British public broadcaster, on the 14th (local time). The local online premium supermarket Ocado opened a "Korean food section" that day and held a kimchi-making class.
The BBC said that day that "Korean food is penetrating deep into Britain's mainstream society," spotlighting the surge of K-food in the country. Kimchi and gochujang, once seen only at Asian markets in parts of London, are now steadily entering British high-end supermarket chains like Ocado and Waitrose.
According to the 2025 food and beverage report recently released by Waitrose, a high-end supermarket chain mainly used by Britain's upper class, sales of gochujang at the supermarket soared 71% from a year earlier. During the same period, kimchi sales also rose 44%. This means Britons are moving beyond simply buying Korean food at restaurants and have begun consuming it as home-cook ingredients for making meals themselves. Searches for "Korean chicken" and "Korean BBQ" on the Waitrose website each surged more than 974% year over year.
Ocado recently opened a dedicated "Korean food hall" on its platform and front-loaded more than 100 Korean products, including CJ CheilJedang's Bibigo and Lotte Pepero. The company has built a state-of-the-art automated fulfillment center (CFC) in Busan in partnership with Lotte Shopping.
Chef Judy Joo, who led the kimchi-making class that day, told the BBC, "For Koreans, kimchi is a staple eaten 365 days a year and a heritage handed down like a family treasure," adding, "Now Britons have begun keeping homemade kimchi in their refrigerators and enjoying its taste."
Not only middle-aged and older consumers with purchasing power but also trend-sensitive Generation Z in Britain are getting into K-food via social media. CJ CheilJedang said the number of TikTok posts by British users related to Korean food grew from fewer than 10,000 in 2023 to more than 17,000 this year, an increase of nearly 70% in two years.
Local experts analyze that a wellness code lies behind the explosive growth of K-food. Since the pandemic, interest in immunity and gut health has risen in Britain, and fermented foods like kimchi, doenjang, and gochujang are being reappraised as superfoods.
Nutritionist Emer Rowe told the BBC, "Fermented foods like kimchi have now entered the mainstream of British food culture," adding, "The perception has spread that beyond simply boosting flavor and texture, they offer significant health benefits, such as aiding digestion and fostering a diverse gut microbiome."
According to global market research firm Grand View Research, the size of the British kimchi market will grow at an average annual rate of 3.5% for five years from this year to reach about $148.4 million (about 210 billion won) by 2030. It is the steepest growth among individual countries in Europe.
Korean cuisine has already moved beyond the stage of strictly preserving tradition in Britain. It has now entered a phase of evolution, bearing a British flavor through localization. Local food and beverage experts cited as a prime example chef Juwon, who runs the restaurant Cálong in north London.
The restaurant presents dishes that reinterpret British local ingredients through Korean cooking techniques. Representative dishes include Cornish cod simmered with radish in a Korean style, and a terrine set firm like muk with Western spices and liquor, served with ssamjang. The Michelin Guide said the restaurant "has hidden the taste of Korea in European cuisine."
In a BBC interview, chef Juwon said, "In Britain, you can't obtain exactly the same ingredients as in Korea," adding, "There's no need to put gochujang in every dish. It's the same logic as an Italian restaurant not using the same sauce for every pasta," emphasizing a strategy to elevate and diversify Korean cuisine.
Experts said that through this process, Korean cuisine is moving beyond the limits of being ethnic food and is gaining universality by fusing with Britain's food culture.