Sales of packaged Korean food are surging at Incheon Airport, boosted by their popularity with foreign travelers, a local food service company said Wednesday.

The number of foreign customers now equals that of Korean passengers who purchase Korean home meal packages at food courts located in the airport’s concourse and passenger terminal, said food service company Ourhome. 

The company attributed the rise in demand to the popularity of Korean dramas and other pop culture content that feature the local dishes.

“When the food court opened late last year, Koreans leaving the country for vacation made up most of our sales. Now, foreigners account for almost half,” said Kim Ji-hyun, a spokesperson of Ourhome.

Between January and August this year, sales made up by foreigners grew 14 percent every month, according to the company’s data.

The ready-made meals are offered in sealed packages and double wrapped by the vendors for the passengers to be able to take them on board.

Packaged traditional ginseng chicken soup, or samgyetang, was the most popular item sold.

Between 700 and 800 packages of samgyetang are sold monthly, and they are sold out as soon as they hit the shelves, the firm said.

“Chinese customers have a positive perception of ginseng as a healthy food. They also have a higher preference for the dish itself,” said the Ourhome spokesman.

Various companies have been benefiting from the popularity of samgyetang, which was sparked by the hit Korean drama “Descendants of the Sun,” which had featured the dish.

Meanwhile, beef and mushroom rice porridge as well as abalone rice porridge showed the highest jump in sales growth.

Home meal replacement brand Peacock, launched by Korea’s biggest discount store chain E-mart, has also been selling its products at duty-free stores since September 2015.

CJ CheilJedang, the food manufacturing unit of CJ group, is currently exporting its home meal replacements to 38 countries including China and Hong Kong.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)