Sales of craft beers to South Korea helped UK food and drink exports reach £10bn in the first six months of 2017, the best first half figures ever.
South Korea was the fastest growing destination for British food and drink, with export revenues up 77% as sales of beer jumped more than 420% year-on-year to £59.3m, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).
Sales of beer to South Korea outshone whisky, traditionally the UK’s biggest food and drink export, with shellfish and ice cream also in the top five. Internationally, salmon is the UK’s second biggest export followed by beer.
South Korea has become an increasingly important destination for UK beer exporters as young people get a taste for specialist brews such as Brewdog, following trends in the US and Europe.
The FDF said positive growth was reported in 18 of the UK’s top 20 export markets, with only Japan and Spain in decline.