K-food moves into New Zealand mainstream retail

Korean food is moving beyond the ethnic consumer niche and into the general food category in New Zealand, KOTRA said.

Local food trade publication Supermarket News said Korean food is "gradually penetrating the daily lives of New Zealand consumers," driven by bold-flavored items such as bulgogi, Korean fried chicken and kimchi, as well as convenient ready-to-eat products including ramyun, mandu and kimbap.

Data from the Korea International Trade Association show that South Korea's exports to New Zealand of grain and starch preparations and bakery products rose 14.8 percent year-on-year in 2025. Within that category, noodles, pasta, gnocchi and couscous posted an 18.4 percent increase.

Noodles and sauces are among the key product categories driving K-food's spread in New Zealand. Growing demand for bulgogi sauce, gochujang, seasoned chicken sauce and tteokbokki sauce signals that K-food consumption is expanding beyond finished products into home cooking and culinary applications.

Jeon Jeong-hun, head of Ottogi's New Zealand subsidiary, told KOTRA that ready-to-use products offering an easy taste of Korean cuisine are showing strong growth, and that demand for home cooking among local consumers has risen sharply. "The air fryer culture and home-cooking trend have driven strong interest in seasoned chicken sauce, bulgogi sauce and Korean BBQ marinade products," he said.

On breaking into mainstream distribution channels, Jeon advised that preparation beyond product quality alone is essential. Local buyers, he said, look not only at the product itself but also at a full range of documentation — raw ingredient information, allergen details, English-language product specifications, nutritional content, storage conditions, expiration dates, country-of-origin information, test reports, product photos, packaging information, and barcode and logistics data.