Promoting the true taste of kimchi

KIM HYUN-YE
The author is a Tokyo correspondent of the JoongAng Ilbo.

“Thousands of Korean workers went to work in Bahrain. Koreans cannot live without kimchi, so a Korean company was supposed to provide kimchi. But it didn’t work out, and the kimchi order didn’t go through. The kimchi factory prepared lots of kimchi but had no place to sell it. They contacted me and consulted me about what to do. We told them we will try to sell it to Japan. This is how Japan started to import kimchi from Korea,” said the CEO of a Japanese company.

The Korean Kimchi Festival was held in Shinjuku, Tokyo on Nov. 23 to celebrate Nov. 22’s designation as Kimchi Day with the Japan Anniversary Association. I found a strange name, Sanki, among the familiar brands. It is the company which first imported Korean kimchi to Japan in 1986. The company has been maintaining the true taste of Korean kimchi from Korean partners ever since. CEO Yukiya Shinkawa once showed a kimchi jar and said, “We are selling kimchi in the Korean style with seasoning on top.” They put leftover seasoning on top of kimchi, just like Korean mothers do. All of that cabbage and seasoning is made in Korea.

It was not easy to import and sell kimchi in Japan in the beginning. Shinkawa went around shopping centers delivering kimchi. But the merchants — who initially said, “Kimchi smells of garlic,” and rejected it — began to order one after another thanks to the Korean Wave. Shinkawa resolutely said, “It’s been 37 years, and my goal is to keep the true taste of Korean kimchi.” Why?

The background is the structure of kimchi market in Japan. Japan is the biggest importer of kimchi, and kimchi is very popular. You can find kimchi at local supermarkets and convenience stores. “As Kimchi has become popularized, 90 percent of Japanese consumers keep kimchi in the refrigerator,” said Yoon Sang-young, head of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation’s Tokyo branch.

But most of the Japanese kimchi market is occupied by Japanese kimchi — made with Japanese cabbages by Japanese companies. Consumers are accustomed to sweet, Japanese-style kimchi. When they buy Korean kimchi, they claim that it has gone bad when it becomes fermented.

Japanese consumers don’t know the fermented, deep taste of aged kimchi. Those doing kimchi business in Japan say, “Kimchi will be loved in Japan when the true taste of kimchi is known.” The report card of exporting kimchi to 93 countries around the world is certainly important. But the true taste of kimchi should also be promoted.