The seasonings, dressings & sauces market in South Korea is expected to reach US$1.9bn by 2024 with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5% over the forecast period of 2019-2024, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘South Korea Seasonings, Dressings & Sauces – Market Assessment and Forecasts to 2024’ reveals that ‘condiment sauces’ was the largest category with value sales of KRW404.5bn (US$345.8m) in 2019. However, the tomato pastes and purees category is forecast to post the fastest value sales at a CAGR of 2.9% over the forecast period 2019-2024, followed by bouillons and stocks, and condiment sauces with CAGRs of 2.8% each.

Meenakshi Haran, Senior Consumer Insights Analyst at GlobalData says: “The sales of seasonings, dressings & sauces in the country are largely driven by the South Korean culinary tradition of fermenting and combining bold, spicy and tangy flavors.

The per capita consumption of seasonings, dressings & sauces in South Korea stood higher than the regional and global averages in 2019. The per capita consumption of condiment sauces category stood at 2kg, higher than the global per capita consumption of 1.4kg followed by herbs, spices & seasonings at a per capita consumption of 1.6kg, above the global average of 1.3kg in the same year.

Cj Group, Daesang, and Sempio Foods Company are the top three companies by volume sales in the South Korean seasonings, dressings & sauces market, with Cj Group also leading value sales in the country. Hypermarkets and supermarkets emerged the largest distribution channel in 2019.

Haran concludes: “As consumers seek ‘made for me’ products, specific health & wellness (H&W) attributes such as ‘food intolerance’ are likely to see strong demand over the forecast period. On the other hand, the rising health awareness is expected to spur opportunities for consumer benefits such as ‘health management’, driving growth of the health & wellness market in the South Korean seasonings, dressings & sauces market during 2019–2024.”