사진 확대

"We participated in the fair last year and strengthened our relationship with major distribution channels such as 11th Street and Naver, and we are also exploring new marketing strategies." Kojimam Bio, which participated in the 2nd Korea Small and Medium Business Fair, which opened at SETEC in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 22nd, participated in this year's fair following last year's Busan event. Kojimam Bio is a company that manufactures, researches, and develops health functional foods based on natural organic ingredients. Ahn Jung-hoon, head of the product planning division at Kojimam Bio, said, "We met with distribution buyers at the fair last year, and sales of related channels in 2025 have increased five times compared to the same period last year," adding, "We are also conducting on-site sales from this year's fair."

The 2nd Korea Small and Medium Business Fair, hosted by the Mail Business and the Korea Local Newspaper Council and sponsored by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, opened at Setec in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 22nd. This year's event focused on developing markets for small and medium-sized companies under the slogan "Where opportunities for growth gather, meet the future of K SMEs." About 100 SMEs and local governments participated in the fair, which marks its second anniversary, and 147 booths were set up. There are booths in various fields such as food, household goods, cosmetics, construction goods, and tech products. Among them, booths for food and beverage and food companies were crowded from day one. Busung's "Direct Charcoal Chicken," which is easy to cook in a microwave oven, Lasan horse meat and black pork jerky from Donma Distribution, and food company Taesung's premium mochi dessert alt and Cheongju Rooster Coffee were also available for tasting, leading to visitors. Kim Soo-jung, director of Donma Distribution, said, "We are also continuing pop-ups at department stores such as Hyundai Department Store, Pangyo Branch, and AK Plaza Suwon Branch by differentiating them into antibiotic-free products."

Visitors also visited the "Joseon Innovation Center," a marketing company that introduced various contents using its own character "We Can Do It." Kim Byung-soo, CEO of the Joseon Innovation Institute, said, "Through our participation in the fair, we were able to inform the company's content production capabilities centered on its own IP character 'We Can Do It' and the possibility of collaboration with various companies and institutions." "With this fair, we will discover new opportunities for collaboration and create results where the influence of content and characters leads to positive change and sharing in the actual community," he added.

사진 확대

The fair was held to help small and medium-sized companies discover new markets. In addition to the SME promotion hall exhibition for three days until the 24th, various side events will also be held, including one-on-one consultations with distribution and export platform buyers, and special lectures by experts on crowdfunding and public procurement. It also provides information that provides practical help in the operation of small and medium-sized enterprises and applications for state-funded projects. The Small and Medium Venture Business Promotion Corporation operates a special "Technology Market" hall that supports technology certification and public purchase, and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business has set up a booth to promote the "Yellow Umbrella" policy, a safety net for small businesses and small businesses.

Kim Woo-joong, head of the planning and coordination division of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, who attended the opening ceremony, said, "We often meet companies that face barriers to growth due to limitations in branding or market development even though they have excellent technology and good products. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will also innovate the system so that the public procurement market becomes the priming point for SME innovation growth and strive to develop customized markets based on data."

Companies that actually increased sales after participating in last year's fair participated for the second consecutive time. Lim Sung-baek, CEO of America Yop, a joint venture company that produces architectural ceramics such as eco-friendly loess bricks and loess mortar, said, "Since the first Korean SME fair, hundreds of millions of won in sales have been known," adding, "We expect it to be more than twice as effective at this year's SME fair."

In particular, this year's award ceremony was held for local governments, institutions, and companies that contributed to fostering small and medium-sized companies and contributed to the development of the industry with technology development. Chungcheongbuk-do won the grand prize of the Minister of SMEs and Startups. Chungcheongbuk-do was highly praised for reflecting the field's voice in its policies, including providing 402 billion won worth of small and medium-sized business development funds in a timely manner and operating the SOS Advisory Group 60 times due to corporate difficulties.

Cho Kyung-chan, CEO of Hakhwa 1934, a 92-year-old Cheonan walnut snack company, won the grand prize, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business. Hakhwa 1934 sold dough products on the same day and maintained the traditional manufacturing philosophy of using 100% aged red bean paste, while developing various flavors such as matcha and hojeolmi, capturing the taste of the younger generation. CEO Cho said, "In the future, we will focus on incorporating artificial intelligence into manufacturing in order to keep quality uniform and minimize defects."

The Maeil Economic Chairman Award, which is the excellence prize, and the Korea Regional Newspaper Council President Award, which is the gold prize, went to the Small and Medium Venture Business Corporation and Changwon City, respectively.

Participants in the event sympathized with the importance of securing a market for small and medium-sized enterprises. "Expanding the market is an urgent task for SMEs, as sluggish sales were found to be the biggest management difficulty in the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business," said Kim Hee-joong, head of the economic policy division of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business. "The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business will be a link so that good products can be properly evaluated and enter the global market."

"Mail Business has been striving to create a healthy corporate ecosystem since its inception," said Wi Jung-hwan, CEO of Maeil Business Newspaper. "I hope this fair will create new growth opportunities so that more of the world's best SMEs can come out and contribute to the national economy."