MUNGYEONG, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MK Food Valley Corp. is expanding exports of its high-quality Omija beverages made with berries of Omija plants (Maximowiczia chinensis) it grows in an area with very clean air and water.
The company won two Superior Taste Awards from iTQi in 2016 and an Innovation Award at SIAL Middle East Abu Dhabi in 2018. ITQi is the International Taste & Quality Institute, an organization dedicated to certifying the taste of food and drink products. SIAL Middle East Abu Dhabi is an international trade fair for food that takes place once a year in Abu Dhabi.
Omija are reddish berries of Omija plants, with a berry being about one centimeter in diameter. They are in season in September in Korea. Omi in Korean means five tastes. The berries are so called, because they taste sweet, sour, bitter, salty and spicy hot all at the same time. Among the five, the sour taste is the strongest. Compared with Noni (Morinda citrifolia), Acai and Aronia berries, Omija contain calcium, potassium and magnesium 30 times, 5 to 30 times and more than 10 times as much as them, respectively.
MK Food Valley produces Omija Syrup, Omija Redcho and Omija Juice Series, all made with Omija harvested in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province. Omija Syrup was supplied to Starbucks Korea and Tom N Toms coffee franchises in Thailand. Omija Juice Series are exported to 13 countries.
Mungyeong Omija Fizzio, a Starbucks Korea drink made with Omija Syrup of MK Food Valley, gained sensational popularity among consumers. Tom N Toms in Thailand introduced a menu of beverages of Omija supplied by the corporation. Though the berries were unfamiliar to the Thais, the menu received enthusiastic response.
“Our Omija Syrup is the only Korean syrup to have won innovation contests in two major food & beverage trade shows -- Gulfood Dubai and SIAL Paris,” MK Food Valley official said. “Taking international fairs’ certification of our products as a momentum for further growth, we will step up R&D to increase our exports with a wider array of products.”
More information on MK Food Valley is available at http://www.omijamall.co.kr/ or https://www.facebook.com/omijamall.
