[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s largest food catering service Samsung Welstory is out to tap into China’s foodstuff market that is estimated to be worth around 300 trillion won (US$ 259.5 billion).

Samsung Welstory said teamed up with Japan’s largest food distributor Gokubu Group and Yinlong Agriculture Development Corp., one of China’s top 10 state-run agricultural firms to form a joint venture specializing in distributing foodstuffs throughout China. 

With a capital of 28.5 million yuan (5 billion won), the joint venture will be formed by a 70 percent investment from Samsung Welstory, and another 17.5 percent from Gokubu and another 12.5 percent from Yinlong.
 

Samsung Welstory’s sales stood at 1.73 trillion won in 2015. It supplies catering services to markets in China and Vietnam. The firm, owned wholly by Samsung C&T, has set a goal of ringing up 8 trillion won worth of overseas sales over the next four years.

China’s foodstuff market is expected to grow by 9.2 percent annually by 2020, according to industry figures.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)