Korea's top-tier hotels are moving to tap overseas markets by putting their own kimchi front and center. They are commercializing recipes amassed by hotel Korean restaurants and kimchi labs, aiming to channel the demand for K-food that has formed in the United States and Japan into the premium kimchi market through consolidation.
On the 7th, the hotel industry said Walkerhill Hotel & Resort and Josun Hotels & Resorts are expanding kimchi export regions and sales channels with a focus on the United States. Lotte Hotel & Resort is also holding its first overseas sales event in Japan and is pushing to enter North America, including Canada.
The most aggressive in widening overseas sales routes is Walkerhill. In September last year, Walkerhill exported about 7 tons of its mass-market brand "Walkerhill Hotel kimchi" to the U.S. West Coast for the first time. Starting in Feb., it expanded sales nationwide in the United States, and in Mar., it entered the Australian market.
In Apr., it unveiled the premium brand "SUPEX kimchi" in the United States for the first time. The three varieties—baechu kimchi, pa kimchi, and gat kimchi—were approved for export after two rounds of local sample tests last year. As of Apr., Walkerhill kimchi's cumulative overseas export volume stood at about 70 tons. Walkerhill plans to widen its sales regions to major Asian markets, including Japan.
To support overseas exports, it also changed the recipe and packaging. Instead of the beef brisket broth made from premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, used in the existing SUPEX kimchi, it applied a vegetable-and-mushroom stock to meet overseas food cultures and consumer demand. Packaging was switched to a can-seamer container that vents gases generated during fermentation while blocking outside air. The move aims to reduce container swelling during long-distance transport and maintain taste and quality.
Josun Hotels is growing its overseas business on the back of expanded production facilities and the group's distribution network. Since 2024, Josun Hotels has directly exported kimchi to Singapore eight times, selling it at local premium supermarkets such as Little Farms and Sol Mart.
In Feb., through the E-MART America unit, it signed an export deal with the U.S. Korean food platform U.S. ULTARI Mall and shipped about 1.5 tons of baechu kimchi and chonggak kimchi for the first time. It is also reviewing ways to expand its sales network to other premium distribution channels in the United States.
It has also expanded production capacity to match growing demand. In Jan., Josun Hotels opened the 1,650-square-meter "Josun Hotels Premium Kimchi Center" in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, about 2.5 times larger than its previous facility. Josun Hotels' kimchi sales reached 54 billion won last year, rising an average of 23.8% annually since 2021. It set this year's sales target at 62 billion won and aims to reach 100 billion won in annual sales by 2030 by raising maximum daily output to 6 tons.
Lotte Hotel chose a strategy of checking consumer reactions in overseas markets before widening export regions. From Apr. 1 to 7, it ran the first overseas pop-up store for "Lotte Hotel kimchi" at the food hall of Daimaru Department Store in Tokyo, Japan. At the event, it sold a 650-gram baechu kimchi product, made with cooking know-how from Lotte Hotel's Korean restaurant Mugunghwa, for 1,900 yen.
Following the Japan pop-up, Lotte Hotel is reviewing exports to Canada and plans to expand its sales network across the Americas, including the United States, based on that.
Behind hotels' expansion into the kimchi business is not only the popularity of K-food but also the view that they can extend the hotel dining experience into external products. By leveraging chefs' recipes once available only at hotels, premium ingredients, and brand trust, they can target a premium market distinct from ordinary packaged kimchi.
The overseas kimchi market is also widening from a focus on Japan and Southeast Asia to the Americas and Europe. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Korea's kimchi exports rose from $105 million in 2019 to $164 million in 2024. During the same period, the share of the Americas and Europe in total exports climbed from 22.7% to 46.1%.
A hotel industry official said, "Overseas, more consumers are looking not only at Korean kimchi itself but also at its quality, production process, and even the brand's history," adding, "Hotel kimchi can target premium demand that seeks differentiated quality despite higher prices."