aT, Alibaba join forces to fight K-food counterfeits

The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) has teamed up with Alibaba Group to combat the spread of counterfeit K-food products overseas and strengthen intellectual property protections for Korean food exporters.

aT said Wednesday it co-hosted the "K-Food Global Export and Intellectual Property Protection Strategy Seminar" with Alibaba Group on July 2 at the aT Center in Yangjae-dong, Seoul. More than 120 food export companies interested in entering overseas online markets and protecting their brands attended the event.

At the seminar, Tmall Global, the Chinese e-commerce platform, presented the latest trends and consumer patterns in China's food market. It said interest is growing not only in beverages and snacks but also in low-alcohol drinks such as makgeolli and soju. The aging population is also driving expansion in the markets for anti-aging foods, children's growth supplements and liver-health functional foods.

Alibaba.com conducted practical training on finding overseas buyers, sharing hands-on information for the online export process — including sample shipment procedures, buyer verification methods and tips for writing company profiles.

A panel discussion that followed brought together officials from the Korean Intellectual Property Office, aT and food companies to discuss ways to protect K-food intellectual property rights. Participants agreed that sustaining K-food's growth in global markets requires systematic efforts to protect brand identity, including trademarks and designs.

After the seminar, pre-registered companies received one-on-one consultations covering the process for listing on Alibaba platforms, country-specific certification regimes and export cost structures.

Jeon Gi-chan, aT's director of food exports, said the corporation would "create a safe retail environment and actively support exporters in expanding overseas so that K-food can continue to grow in global markets."