It didn’t take K-Pack long to take over the South Korean market.
Operating in a niche field with few competitors, K-Pack – a manufacturer that specializes in packaging film for seafood and meat products and is based just southwest of Seoul in the city of Siheung – quickly found itself as a leader in packaging film production domestically.
“We’ve captured the majority of the [South Korean] market already, and our eyes are now on what’s next,” K-Pack International Sales Manager Caleb Park said at the 2024 Seafood Expo North America, which took place from 10 to 12 March in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Toward that end, the company has set its sights on targeting the U.S. and Canada and has begun attending trade shows on the continent to showcase its products.
“This is our first time attending SENA, and we didn’t know what to expect other than it’s a gigantic show with many potential customers,” Park said.
Park highlighted that the company’s wide customer base, comprising businesses such as retailers, equipment manufacturers, processors, and more, made SENA an attractive opportunity, and the company presented a booth with several trending products, including its vacuum skin film, which drew the most inquiries, according to Park.
“Right now, the trend is slowly changing to very presentable, retail-ready skin packaging, so that’s what we’re promoting; it goes really well with seafood,” Park said.
Besides customer leads, trade shows have provided K-Pack with an opportunity to learn about the markets it’s looking to enter. For example, K-Pack quickly learned about the importance of the 10,000 oxygen transmission rate (10K OTR) threshold for vacuum seal packaging.
Packaging that meets this threshold makes packaged seafood safe, hygienic, and unlikely to spoil, keeping out bacteria, dust, water, chemicals, and other possible contaminants.
Therefore, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made this type of packaging a requirement for fresh fish, and K-Pack, after hearing many inquiries about the standard from customers, is certain it will reach the threshold in the near future.
“We’re getting close to achieving the 10K threshold,” Park said. “We’re very confident in our products being able to block off all contaminants, using a universal sealant that allows our film to attach to any mono-material trays without any coating applied to them, which is very rare and further keeps our products safe and recyclable.”
Once K-Pack meets the industry standard, it will continue to court U.S. and Canadian customers and is shooting for further growth and education opportunities in the near future, Park said.
