The future of Korean ginseng: Challenges and solutions

2023 Korea Ginseng Conference. [Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]

Korean ginseng has been considered the country’s premier medicinal crop and is renowned as the finest worldwide, with a history spanning over 1500 years.

But the Korean ginseng market is currently facing significant challenges. While consumption has been steadily declining, all indicators for ginseng have deteriorated over the past decade. In 2012, the average wholesale price for 750 grams of four-year-old ginseng was 32,906 won ($24.74) and averaged 28,972 won in 2022, marking a 12 percent decrease. When higher inflation is considered, this price drop is unimaginably challenging for ginseng farms.

There has been a constant decrease in ginseng farms in the wake of rising production costs and dwindling profitability, with the number dropping by 23 percent in the past decade from 23,795 to 18,236. The cultivated land area also shrunk by 9 percent to 14,734 hectares in the same period, and annual production has declined by 15 percent to 22,020 tons. As sales plummet, the ginseng inventory held by ginseng processors like Korea Ginseng Corp (KGC) across the country is estimated to be at least 1.5 trillion won to 2 trillion won.

There is a growing fear that the Korean ginseng industry could collapse. During a recent conference sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Geumsan County in South Chungcheong Province, a 10-point agenda for revitalizing Korean ginseng was proposed by Maeil Business Newspaper.

One suggestion is to revamp the Geumsan Ginseng Center, the country’s biggest ginseng wholesaler, into a new wholesale logistics hub to address the current issues of inconsistent trading standards and price transparency.

Another proposal aims to position Korea as the global epicenter for ginseng trading. This includes establishing an online ginseng exchange and exploring metaverse solutions with digital platform companies. There are also calls for a scientific project to validate the thermogenic effects of ginseng on the human body.

To enhance ginseng variety development and distribution, a long-term research and development program is sorely need, as highlighted by Professor Yang Tae-jin from Seoul National University, who noted, “ Korea has developed 34 new ginseng species, but only 10 percent of them remain available in the market.”

Meanwhile, Maeil Business Newspaper hosted the 2023 Korea Ginseng Conference at aT Center, Seoul on Tuesday to discuss these challenges and explore solutions with more than 200 participants attending the event. Many participants echoed the need to find a breakthrough with an active export strategy as Korean ginseng faces a crisis due to the emergence of various health supplementary foods.

“The share of ginseng sales, which accounted for 55 percent of health supplements in 2010, has been halved to 26 percent in 2021, and ginseng prices are now cheaper than that of bellflower roots,” Park Beom-in, governor of Geumsan Country, said in his keynote speech. “Given the limit to expanding domestic consumption, we need to explore overseas markets such as Southeast Asia and Europe.”

“The global health supplement market is growing steadily at an average annual rate of 6.2 percent,” said Ki Hyun-min, head of global planning at the Korea Ginseng Corp (KGC). “KGC aims to hit 1 trillion won in exports by 2025.”

“Korean ginseng received great attention at the international food exhibition SIAL in Paris, France, and Shanghai, China,” according to Kim Seon-ui, head of Promosalons Korea. “It is time for Korean ginseng companies to more actively engage in export activities as overseas consumers‘ demand for Korean food grows.”

“The immunity benefits of ginseng have been highlighted in the global market during the Covid-19 pandemic, but Korean ginseng is facing fierce competition from Canadian and Chinese ginseng,” Chang Seung-joon, vice chairman and chief executive officer at Maekyung Media Group, said. “It is with this sense of urgency that Maeil Business Newspaper has organized the Ginseng Conference today.”

“For Korea to re-emerge as a global ginseng powerhouse, we need to develop ginseng into a future industry,” Chung Hwang-keun, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said in his congratulatory remarks.