The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced today (October 18) that it will expand sales channels for K-Food into local school meals and the food service industry in Europe, taking advantage of its participation in SIAL Paris 2026.

The ministry held tasting events for local consumers, promotions at major retail stores, and meetings with food service and school meal industry officials in Paris for two days starting October 16.

In particular, the ministry provided training on mass cooking methods using K-ingredients such as kimchi and sauces to French school meal service workers.

Moving forward, it plans to introduce menus prepared with these cooking methods into actual school meals and encourage the expanded use of K-ingredients.

In addition, a promotional event worth 4 million dollars was held at 40 stores of major French retail chain Carrefour to boost sales of South Korean heat-treated poultry and frozen convenience foods.

A tasting event introducing K-chicken, hot dogs, tteokbokki, and other items to local students was also held at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris.

According to the ministry, K-Food exports to the European Union (EU) region from January to September this year reached 728.38 million dollars, a 23.5% increase compared to the same period last year.

In particular, exports of heat-treated poultry, whose quarantine negotiations were concluded in 2023, surged 492% to 7.24 million dollars.

The ministry plans to cooperate with the South Korean Embassy in France to help domestic export companies respond to local regulations.

Jeong Kyeong-seok, Director General for Food Industry Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "We will support the stable local settlement of strategic items such as heat-treated poultry and expand K-ingredients into the food service and school meal sectors, fostering Europe into a major export market on par with the United States, China, and Japan."