A new meaning for K-pop: Kiwi businesses proving popular in South Korea

Kiwi businesses big and small are setting trends and finding success in the competitive South Korean market. From the largest New Zealand investment in the country, to a popular pub in Seoul, Shannon Redstall found Kiwi leaders had exceeded their own expectations.

“As they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery,” James Thomas laughed as he told me that since opening the very first South Korean luge site back in 2017, 17 other luge sites, from copy cat businesses have opened up across the country.

“We certainly feel flattered by the fact that so many people have copied what we do. It was just such a popular, popular product, and it really went well that beyond our expectations,” said Thomas, GM International Luge Operations.

Stuff met Thomas at the company’s second luge site in South Korea. Even before the park opened, people were lined up outside ready to put on their helmet and ride down the luge trails.

The site is a slice of Aotearoa in the middle of Korea’s second-biggest city. Busan has a population almost as large as New Zealand.

There are many home comforts: you can buy Cookie Time cookies, Juicies, and Whittaker’s Chocolate in the retail area, but there is one major difference, the trails are decidedly safer than the likes of Queenstown and Rotorua.

“You go as fast or slow as you want to. You’re in control. And I think that that’s something Koreans really get on board with. It enables them to push the envelope a little bit without going too far,” he said.

Thomas said South Koreans liked to jump on a trend, and excitement over the original luge in Tongyeong led to queues around the block.

He said despite the expansion into Korea being a “raging success”, the company was frustrated by the 17 imitation luge operations by rival operators.

“If one is a bit second-rate … , maybe it’s not as safe, then we think that reflects badly on us, and yet we have zero control over it,” he said.

Skyline Luge has made the largest investment of any NZ company in South Korea, spending tens of millions to build the two luge sites, Thomas said.

Korea is New Zealand’s fifth-largest trading partner, with more than $9.02 billion of goods and services traded in the 12 months to March 2023. It continues to go from strength to strength, growing 57% in that time.

NZ’s top five exports are dairy, travel, aluminium, wood and meat while mineral fuels and oils make up the vast majority of imports from Korea into NZ, followed by cars.

Many Kiwi businesses operating in Korea are predominantly import-based; the likes of Fonterra and Zespri have a big presence in South Korea.

All Good Oat Milk is about to celebrate its first anniversary in the Korean market.

Faye MacGregor, the company’s general manager said the first 12 months had exceeded expectations, having sold enough oat milk for almost three million flat whites. Comparatively, Kiwis drank around 10 times that amount.

All Good first launched onto Coupang, a major e-commerce platform, then retailers and most recently, coffee shops.

The business is only five years old, and MacGregor said All Good expanded into South Korea earlier than expected because she realised the growth opportunity was enormous.

“[South Korea was] probably less developed in the oat milk space than New Zealand was … and also, at least 75% of South Koreans are lactose intolerant, so there’s a huge market there,” she said.

The market for oat milk expanded 420% from 2016 to 2020, local media reported.

All Good’s South Korean rep Victoria Michaels said many South Koreans did not know they were lactose intolerant so had only recently begun to seek out dairy-free alternatives

“Until you actually stop [consuming dairy] most people think it’s normal to have that level of discomfort,” she said.

Seoul barista Cho Ki Suk said oat milk coffees made up around 10% of his sales. He’s had feedback from his customers, and has experienced himself, the difference from not drinking cow’s milk.

“Overall it sits much better in my tummy,” he said.

Cho said customers also liked the flavour of the milk and described it as “고소하다” (pron: gosohada), which can be translated to nutty, the smell or taste of roasted sesame or freshly-baked bread, a sought after quality in Korean food and drink.

Currently, the company is particularly targeting “speciality coffee stores” and has just signed on to expand into a major Korean café chain with around 700 outlets.

All Good is currently stocked in around 50 coffee shops and MacGregor said expanding into hundreds more on August 1 was terrifying but exciting.

“It’s a really, really big win for us, and it really helps validate the quality of our product and how well it goes with coffee,” she said.

“New Zealand brands are just so well respected. You know people appreciate quality products, and we can deliver on that.”

Korean exports currently make up around 10% of their revenue and the goal is to grow that to 25% in the next two years, MacGregor said.

It’s estimated there are around 4000 Kiwi ex-pats living in Seoul, with many of them working as English language teachers according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

That’s exactly how Malcolm Luke got his start in Korea almost 20 years ago, and now he’s doing something relatively unique for a New Zealand in Seoul, running his own small business as the owner-operator of Bonny’s Pizza Pub.

What started as a sports bar for Commonwealth sports like rugby and cricket, has become a hub for Kiwis, both visiting and permanent.

“I would hasten to say it’s a home away from home for the Kiwis in Korea, but it’s kind of been a place for us to coalesce when big events happen and sometimes when things go a bit pear-shaped,” he said

Luke laughed about the anguish of watching the Blackcaps lose the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final in a super over but caught a tear in his eye while talking about coming together with Kiwis the day of the mosque shootings.

His two pubs are filled with Kiwiana, beer bottles, rugby jerseys, flags. He said young people were often under a lot of pressure in Korea, and tried to give them a place to relax.

“I hope I just do a little bit to put New Zealand in front of young Korean eyes, because most of the people who are coming here are under 35. And so the next generation of investors and travellers,” he said.

Tony Garrett is the chair of the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Korea. He explained Koreans have a positive perception of Aotearoa but in a highly competitive market, trading on “brand New Zealand” isn’t enough.

“When you’re doing business here, it is a very competitive society, people expect good service, and they’re very happy to reject you if [the standard] is not up there,” he said.

He said countries from all around the world were trying to get the same slice of economic pie as New Zealand businesses, but believed Kiwis punch above their weight.

For the last few years, the chamber has been hosting trade shows, in a bid to show Korean people that New Zealand is about more than dairy, wine and meat but had also made huge strides in agritech and robotics.

“What we want to do is to expose what innovative stuff that we’re doing from New Zealand and match these smaller companies to work with different partners up here,” he said.

It’s a sentiment shared by Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta who recently returned from a trip to Seoul for the Korea-Pacific Leaders Summit.

She said the two countries had a long-standing relationship, and shared both similar values and cultural ties.

“New Zealanders who haven’t travelled the world or experienced Asia, they would be pleasantly surprised with how much we have in common with South Korea,”

She said Korea was one of the most similar countries to New Zealand, of all our global partners.

Mahuta said New Zealand has much to learn from Koreans, especially in the technology and manufacturing space, while she thought Aotearoa’s strong agri-business sector would have something to offer South Korea.

She also noted the direct flights from Auckland to Seoul was another factor strengthening ties between the two countries, especially in tourism.

Air New Zealand resumed flights to Seoul in November, and said the route was proving popular, with more than 40,000 passengers having flown between the two countries since then.

Back in Busan, James Thomas said other Kiwi businesses who were interested in the Korean market should travel to the country rather than try and do it remotely.

“It’s all about the people, and it’s all about the relationships that you build with those people. Koreans like to be able to trust each other and trust their business partners and that trust is built through personal face to face communication,” he said.

He said there was a world of opportunity for brave business owners who were willing to take the leap.

– Shannon Redstall and Chris Skelton’s travel to South Korea was made possible by the Asia New Zealand Foundation.