The award was part of the ‘Best Brand Awards’, which are conducted annually by leading Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo. The awards were judged by a panel of four marketing and retailing experts who chose Hoju Chungjung Woo over eight other leading food brands, including popular local products.

The ‘Best Brand Awards’ are split into 12 categories, with Hoju Chungjung Woo topping the list in the ‘food/beverage’ category.

MLA Regional Manager Korea Glen Feist said the award acknowledged the growing popularity of Hoju Chungjung Woo - ‘Clean and Safe Australian Beef’ when translated - in Korea and the high level of trust and recognition that Korean consumers have of the product.

“Winning the award for the third year in a row is a great achievement and it really demonstrates the growing popularity of Australian beef in Korea. Since its launch in January 2002 the Hoju Chungjung Woo brand has become synonymous with the integrity and quality of Australian beef,” Mr Feist said.

“Korean consumers now know when they purchase Australian beef that the product carrying the Hoju Chungjung Woo brand has been raised in the clean Australian environment and is produced using strict quality controls that ensure premium quality.”

When judging the awards the expert panel took into account each brand’s market share, brand awareness, brand potential and consumer survey data.

“The awards recognised Hoju Chungjung Woo as taking the biggest market share in its category during the past year. They also took into account the effectiveness of our marketing activities and that Korean consumers are familiar with the brand,” Mr Feist said.

Hoju Chungjung Woo holds a 75 percent share of total beef imports into Korea, worth $661 million. The Hoju Chungjung Woo brand appears in Korea’s leading department and hypermarket stores and is widely used by the country’s top hotels and major restaurant chains.

Korea is Australia’s third largest export market for beef. Australia exported 121,271 tonnes of beef to Korea in 2005-06, an increase of 33 percent on the year before. Beef is the second most consumed meat in Korea, behind pork.

TheCattleSite News Desk