SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s imports of sterilized milk increased sharply last year when the nation’s food industry carried out price hikes, a state-run agricultural think tank said.
The nation’s imports of sterilized milk amounted to an estimated 33,000 tons last year, up 42 percent year on year, according to a report released by the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI).
The report said that the demand for sterilized milk has been on a steady upward trend since it’s easy to store and relatively cheap.
The country relied on Poland for 75.1 percent of its sterilized milk imports, followed by Germany at 10 percent, Italy at 7.7 percent and Australia at 5.3 percent.
The KREI conducted a questionnaire survey of 527 local consumers. Among them, 17.5 percent said they had purchased sterilized milk in the past.
Among those who had purchased sterilized milk in the past, 30.7 percent cited “easy to store” as the primary reason behind their purchases, and 29.7 percent cited “cheap price.”
Other reasons included “curiosity” at 15.6 percent and “good taste” at 12 percent.
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