Geumsan Ginseng Seeks New Export Pathways Through 'K-Beauty' Integration

[Anchor]

When people think of "ginseng," they usually picture health foods or red ginseng products. Recently, however, cosmetics utilizing Geumsan ginseng have gained popularity overseas, emerging as a new export powerhouse.

Reporter Park Beom-sik from TJB.

[Reporter]

Shampoos that have gone through the packaging process are neatly stacked in cardboard boxes.

It is a well-known shampoo infused with various oriental medicine ingredients.

Most products made by this company, including the shampoo, foam cleanser, and ampoules, contain Geumsan ginseng extract among their herbal ingredients.

The production plant was established in Geumsan to ensure a smooth supply of raw materials.

Turning its eyes away from the saturated domestic market, the company has begun focusing on targeting overseas markets.

Marketing strategies, such as adding a whole root of Geumsan ginseng directly into transparent containers, have caught the eyes of beauty consumers in markets including the United States and Southeast Asian nations like Thailand.

Currently, 70 percent of total sales, amounting to nearly 20 billion won annually, come from overseas exports.

[Cho Sang-woong / Head of Manufacturing Department, D Cosmetics: We are supplying to major U.S. supermarkets, and attracting a lot of attention in Thailand as well. We were able to confirm that consumers prefer products where the actual ginseng is visible.]

To spread such success stories, Geumsan County has stepped up its support for the development of K-beauty products utilizing ginseng.

Amid a shifting landscape where markets are opening up—such as ginseng items becoming duty-free starting in 2029 under the Korea-U.S. FTA and aggressive offensives from low-priced overseas ginseng—the strategy is to enhance ginseng's competitiveness by combining it with K-beauty.

In fact, challenges by startups have continued, leading to export achievements such as facial sheet masks and eye creams containing "ginsenoside," an antioxidant component of ginseng.

Although it is still in the early stages and clear results have yet to emerge, there is a common consensus that such diversification attempts must continue for the survival of the ginseng industry.

[Park Ji-heung / President of Geumsan Insam Herb Industry Promotion Agency: We are providing budget support along with technical support to increase efficiency, particularly in the cosmetics sector, and to double absorption rates.]

The promotion agency plans to continue its support—ranging from technology transfers to providing test production facilities—for small and medium-sized enterprises that struggle to build their own research infrastructure or production facilities.

(Video by Choi Woon-ki / TJB)

Park Beom-sik, TJB
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.