[DigitalToday reporter Shin-hye Ahn] Daesang said on Tuesday it will participate in Japan's largest food and distribution trade show, Supermarket Trade Show 2026 (SMTS 2026), to be held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba prefecture from Feb. 18 to 20.

SMTS is a distribution expo hosted by the Japan Association of Supermarket Chains since 1967. This year, about 2,200 companies from 16 countries will take part. The company forecast more than 70,000 visitors, including Japanese and global distribution buyers.

Daesang said it plans to showcase a range of content, including fermented sauces and kimchi products based on fermentation technology, at the expo it is attending for the first time, while also strengthening its presence in the Japanese market.

At its booth, Daesang will display key products from its kimchi brand Jongga and global food brand O'Food. The flagship expo product, Jongga Ilpum Kimchi, is characterised by being matured with five special salted seafood ingredients based on a Korean-style kimchi manufacturing process.

It will also present Jongga Carefully Selected Taste Kimchi, a low-fermentation kimchi intended to be less burdensome even for Japanese people trying kimchi for the first time. O'Food gochujang, which carries on Sunchang's traditional manufacturing method, will also be positioned as a K-food product.

The company will also run an ongoing tasting program reflecting Japanese food culture trends. It said the aim is to help Japanese consumers experience the taste of authentic fermented foods in a familiar way.

Using a deli concept for ready-to-cook supermarket foods that have recently been popular in Japan's supermarket channel, it will introduce unusual recipes using kimchi and gochujang. The four items are stir-fried kimchi egg gimbap and minari gochujang shrimp gangjeong, which are Korean dishes that can be made easily at home, and kimchi tuna-mayo sando and gochujang nikujaga (meat and potato stew), neo Japanese daily dishes combining Korean fermented foods.

Daesang will also present a booth design that embodies its vision of continuous growth and expansion by applying a horizontal big-tree structure inspired by the growth rings of a tree, based on its corporate identity (CI) motif. It said it aims to convey Daesang's craftsmanship and quality philosophy by borrowing elements such as Korea's traditional mother-of-pearl craft.

Daesang CEO Jung-bae Lim (임정배) said, "Participation in SMTS 2026 will be an opportunity to promote differentiated products that consolidate Daesang's fermentation technology and know-how in Japan's food and distribution market," adding, "Together with sauces and kimchi that reflect local Japanese food culture trends, people will be able to see the appeal of K-food."