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Global Sourcing글로벌 소싱
Europe first, then Japan and Southeast Asia. The range runs from chilled goods such as cheese through to ambient jars, stocks and seasonings — items with quite different handling requirements, run side by side.
Food Import & Distribution
highflyTrade brings overseas food products into Korea and places them on online, home-shopping and offline retail channels — import filing, Korean labelling, customs and channel onboarding handled in one place.
About
highflyTrade is a food import and distribution company based in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong. Our work has centred on Europe — finding brands and cheeses that had not yet reached Korea — and now runs through seasonings, spreads and stocks as well.
With food, the real work starts after the contract is signed — checking an ingredient list against Korean standards, filing the import declaration, waiting on inspection, applying Korean labelling, and filling in a different set of onboarding documents for every channel. We take that part on so a brand does not have to learn it from scratch each time.
If stock is short or clearance is running late, the news comes from us first. Passing on only the good news is easier in the moment, and it is why there is no second order.
When something goes wrong we do not reopen the terms; we change the method. A brand has to be able to plan production around our dates for the relationship to continue.
We want to be the company people think of when they are looking for good food Korea does not have yet — judged by how many brands come back, rather than by how large we got.
Founder's Note
I was not a healthy child, and a long stretch of being unwell brings you back to what you eat every day. That is where the conviction came from — that food matters more than most things.
So I went through Europe looking for brands and cheeses that had not yet reached Korea. What I found was that the good things already exist; there is simply no route for them to get here. Making that route became the work.
What I want to offer a brand is not a grand promise. Answer honestly when asked, and hold the dates we agreed. In this business, those two things are what bring the next container.
최은진 · Choi Eun-jin Founder, highflyTrade
Why Us
Europe first, then Japan and Southeast Asia. The range runs from chilled goods such as cheese through to ambient jars, stocks and seasonings — items with quite different handling requirements, run side by side.
In Korea, one wrong line on a document stops a container. Ingredient and additive checks, import declaration, inspection response and Korean labelling are steps we have actually run, not steps we outsource and hope for.
Online marketplaces, home shopping, hypermarkets and premium grocery each ask for different paperwork and different terms. We start by deciding which channel a given product actually fits.
We have brought in European brands and cheeses that had not yet reached Korea. The work has been about opening a route for a brand that has none, rather than reselling one that is already here.
Services
From finding a brand to managing reorders — taken on step by step or end to end.
Finding overseas food brands that have room in the Korean market, and checking category, price band and certification requirements before anyone commits.
Purchase orders, shipping, import declaration, customs clearance and inspection response — the full import cycle.
Warehousing, dispatch and meeting each channel's delivery terms once the goods are in country.
Korean labelling, sorting out filing and certification requirements, and choosing the first channels to enter.
Product detail pages, photography and channel promotions — the assets that actually sell the item.
Adjusting SKU mix and reorder cycles from sales data, and widening the range as the brand settles in.
Process
Timelines vary by product type, origin and ingredients. This is the usual sequence; the real schedule is confirmed once we have the specific item in front of us.
Samples and specification sheets come in; we check product type, cost structure and what it would be up against in Korea.
Ingredient lists and additives are compared against Korean standards. If something will not pass, it is better found here than at the port.
We confirm the overseas manufacturer registration is in place and file the import declaration.
Whichever inspection type is assigned — document, on-site or laboratory — is handled through to clearance.
Korean labels carrying ingredients, net weight, use-by date, storage method, allergens and importer details are applied, and stock is stored to the product's conditions.
Onboarding documents go to each channel, selling starts, and the reorder cycle is set against how fast it actually moves.
Korean Compliance
Selling imported food in Korea means clearing the steps below. This is an outline of what we handle on a brand's behalf.
Registration under the Special Act on Imported Food Safety Control — the base licence an importer must hold.
The producing facility abroad must be registered in advance; without it, a declaration cannot be filed.
Each shipment is declared to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
Depending on the inspection assigned, we submit documents, attend on-site checks, or provide laboratory samples.
Product name, food type, ingredients, net weight, use-by date, storage method, allergens, importer and country of origin, all in Korean.
Checking the Korean Food Code standards and permitted additives for that specific food type.
The above is a general outline of the procedure, not legal advice. Requirements change with product type, origin and ingredients, so each item is confirmed individually.
Brands & Products
Products we have distributed in Korea. The Partner badge means we handled Korean distribution for that product, as a distribution partner.
Product images are shown only where the brand owner or supplier has permitted their use. Brands imported under our own registration will carry a separate Official badge.
Channels
Korean online marketplaces, home shopping networks, hypermarkets and premium grocery.
Online marketplaces · Home shopping · Hypermarkets · Premium grocery · Dawn delivery
These are channels where products we handle have actually sold. Each logo and trademark belongs to its respective company and is shown to indicate sales history.
Contact
Send a brand deck or a product catalogue and we will come back to you. Korean or English, either is fine.
