ASEAN-Korea Centre organized the 2017 ASEAN Trade Fair: Taste the Happiness on 25-28 October 2017 at COEX, Seoul, Korea. AKC invited 104 ASEAN food and beverage companies from 10 ASEAN Member States to showcase a wide selection of their products and explore business opportunities with Korean partners. Also, ASEAN Coffee and Tea Promotional Zone has been set up to increase awareness of the high quality of the ASEAN coffee and tea as well as encourage public engagement through barista shows and coffee tasting.

During the 4 days of exhibition period, about 580 business meetings were conducted and contracts worth over 2.2 million USD were signed. Especially for this year, products including calamansi, coconut related products (oil, juice and snacks) were introduced to Korean business community.

Prior to the exhibition, trade facilitation seminar was held on 24 October for the representatives of the participating ASEAN companies. At the seminar, Korean representatives gave presentations on the distribution system and sourcing trend, safety control policy for imported food as well as food packaging technology trend and regulations. ASEAN delegates also visited Dae-sang Manufacturing factory and CJ Freshway distribution center to better understand Korean food market.