BUS602: Marketing Management

Gochujang is a product with a soybean and grain base, taking its red color and heat from Korean red pepper powder. Traditionally, small batches would have been made and then stored outside in onggi earthenware pots until the paste had been mellowed by the fermentation process.

The result is a thick, shiny paste which, although intrinsic to Korean cuisine, is practically unknown outside of the Korean domestic, local region, or expatriate markets.

Gochujang owes its character to the red pepper used in its production and is, therefore, historically linked to the introduction of red chilies into the Korean peninsula. In general, the pepper used originates from South America and found its way into Europe during the late 16^th century. However, Korea cultivated its own red pepper (gochu), which is totally different from South American red pepper in biological form, and some Korean literature referred to chili pepper (gochu) thousands of years before this time (see the article "The History of Korean Gochu, Gochujang and Kimchi" in this issue of this Journal). The late 16^th century falls in the middle of the Joseon dynasty. This dynasty lasted > 500 years and was responsible for much of the culture, tradition, values and even language still evident in Korean society today. It is, therefore, not surprising that gochujang has become quintessentially Korean alongside its better known relative kimchi, which has gained global recognition. In 2011, standards for gochujang and kimchi were registered with Codex Alimentarius.

The paste is most commonly and widely used in traditional Korean dishes such as bibimbap, as a condiment for meats or as a thick sauce into which consumers dip green chili peppers or cucumber sticks. In addition, the paste is often modified by the addition of other materials such as Korean plums (maesil) or fermented soybean paste (doenjang) to give variation to its taste. The influence of the raw materials, the fermentation process and the aging in the onggi makes the product rich and diverse in its taste with subtle nuances only obvious to the gochujang connoisseur.

Gochujang is adaptable, and manufacturers over recent years have sought to extend the international appeal of the product by developing gochujang-based sauces that have the textural and flavor properties characteristic of chili sauces found in other regions, notably Western Europe, and which lend themselves to uses in non-Korean meals.

In order for a product to gain acceptability as an ethnic food it is essential that consideration is given not only to its acceptability, in terms of its sensory characteristics, but also its positioning in the target cuisine. In the case of this project this was particularly important as it was intended that the product be introduced as a stand-alone material to be used in meal situations in the UK, rather than in its usual context in its original cuisine.

The product development approach was therefore influenced by two primary considerations, firstly, the market size and potential for ethnic foods in Western Europe, and secondly, recognition of the role that attribute familiarity can have on the acceptability of a novel product.

Having grown by nearly 4% in 2012 and with sales (excluding rice) worth > £1.4 billion, numerous market reports point to the UK as the largest packaged ethnic foods market in Western Europe, accounting for more than half of all ethnic foods consumed in the markets of UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and the Benelux and Scandinavian countries. In the UK, the Indian food segment accounts for around 40% of ethnic food retail sales by value (but accounts for < 10% in every other European country), followed by Chinese cuisine at just over a quarter of the market.

Interest in and market growth of Mexican/Tex-Mex, Thai, Caribbean, Japanese and North African foods among others has been supported by an increasingly multicultural Britain, growth in international travel, and the visibility of new cuisine types in the food service sector and media.

Ethnic foods in the UK have traditionally been strongest in product sectors such as ready meals and sauces (although their influence is now becoming apparent in areas like savory snacks). The sauce category has been particularly innovative and examples of oriental/Asian products can be found in the sub-categories of speciality table sauces, oriental accompaniments, barbecues, marinades, and stir-fry sauces.

Collectively these influences have contributed to a significant growth in the choice and diversity of ethnic foods that can now be found in most mainstream UK supermarkets.

Ethnic foods are often perceived as novel foods outside of their cultural communities, at least in the short to medium term. Prescott commented that uncertainty regarding the palatability and safety (and hence acceptability) of a novel food can be decreased by experience and exposure. Indeed, ethnic foods that contain characteristics that are familiar to another culture, thereby increasing their "perceptual fluency", are anticipated to face less resistance when introduced.

The effect of familiarity and perceptual fluency on cross-cultural acceptance of an ethnic food was reported by Hong et al, who presented a case study on a Korean traditional cookie, Yackwa. This study involved Korean, Japanese, and French consumers and showed that Korean consumers liked samples with a soft and cohesive texture, whereas Japanese and French consumers liked a flaky and crispy texture. Liking texture was strongly correlated with familiarity rating in all three countries, indicating that consumers' previous experience with similar products might affect their preference for certain textural attributes.

In the context of the above commentary, this study was conducted to provide product development guidance to manufacturers of gochujang-based sauces that would optimize product appeal among UK consumers of ethnic foods. It was envisaged that the sauces would be positioned in the narrow or speciality/oriental accompaniments category as a distinctive, premium, and regionally authentic product.

This paper summarizes two principal components of the study: (1) a choice-based conjoint test to consider product options in terms of packaging, design, pricing, and product descriptions and attributes; and (2) a home placement test to understand better the relative appeal of the sensory properties of two product variants and their potential applications.