The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF), also known as NongHyup, has made an on-the-spot inspection into the U.S. export environment to explore ways of boosting domestic agricultural produce amid the rapidly changing environment in the wake of the inauguration of the President Trump administration.
It’s also looking to ramp up cooperation through diplomatic channels.
To this end, NongHyup Chmn. Kang Ho-dong had a meeting with Korean Ambassador to the United States Cho Hyun-dong on April 21 and Seo Sang-pyo, Korean consul-general in Seatle, on April 18.
They exchanged views on how to boost Korean agricultural produce exports to the U.S. market.
NongHyup Chmn. Kang toured Hana Group headquarters in Washington DC on April 21 and struck an MOU to enter the United States’ eastern market.
Chmn. Kang had a meeting on promising export items, including rice, instant rice and seasoned laver.
He also visited a logistics center to look into distribution conditions.
NongHyup plans to raise its brand based on some 2,000 whole and retail transaction sites, owned by Hana Group, and stably supply Korean agricultural produce and expand export channels in the eastern region of the United States.
Chmn. Kang said, “NongHyup will lay out foothold to export Korean agricultural produce by proactively coping with changing global trade environment conditions in the years to come and expand its presence in the global market based on the competitiveness of its brand.”
NongHyup recently struck a series of MOUs on export cooperation to expand agricultural produce marketing channels with major U.S. distribution companies and made all-out efforts to secure the competitiveness of Korean agricultural produce exports.
NongHyup struck the MOUs under “profit-making agriculture” strategies to invigorate agricultural food exports.
NACF plans to expand contact points with U.S. local distribution companies and secure distribution networks of each region through collaboration with Chicago Food with logistics infrastructure in the middle and southern parts of the United States and H Mart, one of the United States’ largest distribution networks.
NongHyup forged an MOU with H Mart to expand Korean agricultural produce and food exports in November 2023.
Chicago Food was invited to the World Korean Business Convention, which took place in Atlanta, the United States, on April 17 with NongHyup Chmn. Kang and Chicago Food President Suh Jong-min in attendance.
NongHyup signed an MOU with Chicago Food, calling for conducting joint local marketing activities, building a direct supply system to minimize distribution supply processes and connecting with Central America distribution networks.
Chicago Food is a U.S. food products, agricultural produce, livestock and life necessity item company with clienteles with several cultural backgrounds through multi-national food transaction.
NongHyup held a “Korean NongHyup special sales promotion” with H Mart at H Mart’s Ridgefield Branch in New Jersey from April 18 to April 24.
Up to 50 percent discounts were given on a variety of products, such as processed rice, paste items and soybean milk products.
Visitors were given the chance to experience the cooking of rice and taste food products.
NongHyup Chmn. Kang toured H Mart’s Ridgefield Branch to look into customer response and sale trends.
Chmn. Kang said, “Cooperation with local distribution companies is the starting point of having NongHyup and Korean agricultural produce and foods known to the whole world beyond the simple purpose of exporting, and from now on, we will continue to make all-out efforts to maintain the growth of K-food in the foreign market.”
Meanwhile, NongHyup said Chmn. Kang toured NongHyup Bank’s New York branch and NH Investment & Securities’ New York operation to share their major outcomes and discuss future global business strategies.
Chmn. Kang said, “NongHyup Financial Group will ramp up cooperation between bank and securities units to have synergetic effects in the world’s financial center.”
NongHyup Bank’s New York branch, established in 2013, is expanding investment banking with a focus on corporate financing and import and export financing.
It plans to prioritize the diversifying of its portfolio centering around blue-chip assets, the expanding of local fund procurement channels and the strengthening of in-house surveillance this year.
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