South Korea\'s food industry is ramping up baseball marketing through collaborations with the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and professional teams. Companies including Nongshim, Lotte Wellfood and Starbucks Korea are rolling out limited-edition products, team-themed packaging and goods, and holding in-stadium events. The push follows strong pro baseball attendance, with the KBO expecting crowds to rise to about 13 million this year. Some collaborations have already sold out in pre-orders and annual releases.

Nongshim is speeding up efforts to raise the share of overseas sales to at least 60 percent by 2030, tightening management of its core North American market while expanding into new markets. The company plans to set up a sales unit in Moscow in June. Overseas unit sales rose 8.4 percent last year to 1.25 trillion won, accounting for 38.5 percent of total sales, though North America slipped 1.5 percent.