K‑Food Exports and the Middle East: Outlook Summary
- South Korea previously targeted the Middle East as a major K‑Food growth market.
- Regional conflict and disrupted logistics have sharply reduced Middle East demand.
- K‑Food exports grew 4% YoY in Q1 2026 to US$2.56bn, with the Middle East contributing 32.3% of that growth.
- Exports to the region reached US$106m in Q1 but declined in March due to instability.
- China remains the top K‑Food market by value at US$568.9m and is expected to receive increased focus.
Food has been a key growth sector for South Korea over the past few years, with the local Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) having identified 10 major food export items from pears to kimchi as a major area of focus just over a year ago.
At that time, MAFRA had also specified the Middle East as a key target market for Korean food — more commonly known as K-Food — exports, and followed this up in September 2025 with extra focus on Saudi Arabia as a target.
All of this was going along swimmingly until March this year when the United States and Israel initiated attacks on Iran that have since escalated into an all-out war with Iran countering by attacking US bases and allies across the Middle Eastern region.
Even though a tentative ceasefire was announced as of April 8, it is unlikely that the Middle East will be able to recover from this blow in a short period of time — not to mention the fact that no specific terms have yet been agreed upon, and fighting could resume at any time.
While almost all global markets are set to be impacted by Iran’s current control and effective blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, South Korea in particular looks to have tough year ahead given its reliance on the Middle East for food export growth previously.
“K-Food exports had grown 4% year-on-year in Q12026 to reach US$2.56bn, with the region showing the largest export growth being the Middle East GCC countries that contributed 32.3% of growth overall,” MAFRA foreign press spokesperson Seung-ho Choi said via a formal statement.
“The value of K-food exports to this region was US$106m in Q1 alone, but unsurprisingly saw a decline in March due to the deteriorating logistical conditions and subdued consumption.”
The total value of K-food exports to the Middle East are behind South Korea’s other export partners such as China (US$568.9m), North America (US$508.9m) and South East Asia (US$481.9m), but it has undoubtedly been a major growth driver outstripping the growth value of any of these regions many times over (China: 14.5% growth, North America: 6.3% growth, ASEAN: 2.2% growth).
Key food exports to this region include ramyeon instant noodles and ginseng, the latter of which showed an astounding 814.3% growth in export value from January to February 2026.
So what are the possible fallbacks?
By value, China remains South Korea’s strongest K-food export market and its growth is also second only to the Middle East, so it is likely that the government will double down on this market.
“Korean snacks and beverages are growing popular in the Chinese market, with the growth of ‘K-snacks’ overall including snacks, beverages, and ice cream attributed to export strategies of expanding low-sugar, sugar-free, and vegan product lines in line with the global ‘healthy pleasure’ trend,” he added,
South Korea is also known for processed rice-based foods such as the renowned street food tteokbokki, which has been playing in its favour as of late.
“There is a growing demand for gluten-free options in the United States, which has boosted the popularity of ready-to-eat rice and frozen fried rice to this market,” he added.
“In ASEAN nations including Vietnam, the sustained K-street food trend has led to strong exports of Korean rice cakes, including tteokbokki rice cakes.”
Overall, the export value of this category grew 9.4% in the first quarter of 2026 to US$69.3m, depending on key markets outside of the Middle East such as the US (US$38.4m value exports, 7.8% growth) and ASEAN (US$7.1m in exports, 26.9% growth), so this is also a key growth generator for South Korea.
Similarly, exports of fresh fruits such as strawberries, grapes and pears are expected to be important contributors.
Strawberry exports to Singapore and Thailand both grew over 20%, grape exports to Taiwan grew over 72% and pear exports to the US grew over 136% in the past quarter, highlighting the immense potential for added value generation in these categories.
