Mexican workers eat Korean food as part of the event K-Food Meal Day running from Aug. 19-21 at a manufacturing company located in an industrial complex in Monterrey, Mexico. (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)

By Park Hye Ri

An event in Mexico has introduced Korean food to 3,000 workers in Mexico. 

As the first of its kind in Latin America, K-Food Meal Day was jointly hosted by the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp.

The ministry on Aug. 27 said Korean food from Aug. 19-21 was served to workers at two manufacturing companies based in an industrial complex in Monterrey. The menu included kimchi, instant rice, ramyeon (instant noodles) and beverages.

The event's purpose was to give Mexicans a taste of Korean food and agricultural products to stimulate sales in Mexico of Hansik and boost regular food exports. Mexico is Central and Latin America's largest importer of food and agricultural products from Korea, and Monterrey is considered an ideal place to promote Korean meals given the 1,000 global manufacturers and many Korean companies based in the city.

Those who ate the meals all called the food new and delicious and different from their usual servings of bread and sausages. In a survey done after the event, 97% (418) of 429 respondents said they wanted to regularly eat Korean food and 98% (422) wanted to purchase it on their own.

Since Aug. 26, the ministry has aired promotional videos featuring key food exports like gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), pears and sauces at bus stops with a lot of foot traffic on large electronic screens in the capital of Mexico City. 

Another event dubbed "My Korean Food Recipe Challenge" to run through October seeks to promote Mexican interest in Korean food and agricultural products through meal and promotional activities to raise consumption of Korean food.

hrhr@korea.kr