Korean fast food on menu at W. Cup<\/p>\n
Song Jung-a, Reuters, Chonju, South Korea<\/p>\n
A small South Korean company sees the World Cup as an ideal
\nmarketing chance to realize its dream of taking on global fast
\nfood giants with a healthy rice-and-vegetable dish gaining
\npopularity across Asia.<\/p>\n
Bibimbap -- literally mixed rice, with seasonal vegetables and
\nchili sauce -- was one of the top three dishes during the Chosun
\nDynasty, from 1392 to 1910, and it was often served to the Korean
\nking.<\/p>\n
Pop star Michael Jackson also enjoyed the salad-like dish
\nwhile in South Korea for a concert a few years ago.<\/p>\n
The economical, low-calorie dish is a staple with tourists and
\na safe bet for vegetarians among the hundreds of thousands of
\nWorld Cup fans set to visit South Korea during the May 31 to June
\n30 soccer finals.<\/p>\n
But the only drawback in turning the delicacy into a fast food
\nis that, like other traditional Korean cuisine, it takes a long
\ntime to prepare.<\/p>\n
\"I see great potential in bibimbap as instant food,\" Hong
\nSung-yoon, president of Jeonju Bibimbap Co Ltd, said in an
\ninterview. \"It would not be hard to globalize the food as it's
\nalready drawn quite a good reaction from the Japanese.\"<\/p>\n
Hong, 53, who used to produce honey, invested about 5.0
\nbillion won (US$4.02 million) to set up a small plant in Chonju,
\n230 km southwest of Seoul, in February 2001 and began to mass-
\nproduce bibimbap as instant food.<\/p>\n
Chonju is one of South Korea's 10 venues for the World Cup and
\nwill host first-round matches involving Spain, Paraguay, Portugal
\nand Poland.<\/p>\n
Now some 60 workers produce almost 2,000 packs of ready-made
\nbibimbap -- one pack contains several kinds of boiled vegetables,
\nchili sauce and rice.<\/p>\n
The packets allow customers to enjoy bibimbap at the speed and
\nlow price of a hamburger or instant noodles.<\/p>\n
Hong's company supplies bibimbap to convenience stores all
\nover the country and to state-run Korean National Railroad which
\nsells it to passengers on trains.<\/p>\n
Hong is now talking to Asiana Airlines Inc., Korea's second-
\nlargest carrier, to supply the food on its in-flight menu.<\/p>\n
Hong says his company is not making money yet as it is still
\nin the investment stage. But it supplied 10,000 packs of quick
\nbibimbap to a Japanese food company last year and has exported
\nsmall amounts of bibimbap to the United States and Germany.<\/p>\n
\"Last year's exports were negligible but we expect monthly
\nexports of up to 200 million won this year,\" Hong said,
\npredicting the company would reach the break-even point by the
\nend of this year.<\/p>\n
Hong said his company's main export market is Japan, where
\nmany kinds of Korean food including Kimchi (fermented vegetables)
\nare quite popular.<\/p>\n
Bibimbap with marinated beef, a combination of two Korean
\ndelicacies, is selling well in Japan, Hong says.<\/p>\n
Hong is also eying the huge Chinese market, as the Chinese are
\nshowing strong interest in Korean culture these days.<\/p>\n
\"Bibimbap is being recognized in Asia as diet food as it
\ncontains a lot of fiber with few calories,\" says Kwon Dae-young,
\na researcher at Korea's Food Research Institute who developed
\ninstant bibimbap.<\/p>\n
But Hong has a long way to go to catch up with such global
\nfast food giants as McDonalds.<\/p>\n
The main obstacle against expanding exports is the relatively
\nhigh price of bibimbap which results from high labor costs.
\nBibimbap is sold at about 300 yen (US$2.40) in Japan.<\/p>\n
\"Only half of our production line is automated,\" Hong says.
\n\"The initial stage of production still requires manual work.\"<\/p>\n
Kwon is studying how to make the whole production process
\nautomatic and thinks South Korea will be able to globalize
\ninstant bibimbap by 2008, when Beijing hosts the 2008 Summer
\nOlympics.<\/p>\n
\"This coming World Cup will be a great opportunity for
\nmarketing the product,\" Kwon says.<\/p>",
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