For most regional food manufacturers in Korea, breaking into an overseas retail chain means navigating unfamiliar buyers, complex product specifications, and months of back-and-forth with no guaranteed outcome.
Manna Food, a seasoned seaweed processing company based in Hampyeong-gun, Jeollanam-do, had been exporting for over seven years — building relationships through trade fairs and consultation meetings one buyer at a time. Vietnam’s large-format retail networks remained out of reach through those channels alone.
By partnering with Tridge, Manna Food secured its first supply contract with MM Mega Market Vietnam — coordinating private-label product specs, navigating local certification requirements, and managing unexpected supply chain disruptions from start to shipment.
Manna Food is a specialized seasoned seaweed processing company located in Hampyeong-gun, Jeollanam-do. The company produces a range of seaweed products — lunchbox seaweed, seaweed flakes, gimbap seaweed, and seasoned seaweed snacks — and has maintained active export relationships for over seven years. Its approach to international trade is built on long-term trust: many of the buyer relationships Manna Food established at its first overseas trade fair remain active today.
Manna Food had consistently grown its export footprint through overseas food exhibitions and trade consultation meetings. But converting those introductions into new buyer relationships was rarely straightforward.
Building enough trust to close a deal typically took one to two years. Cross-border communication over email often stalled or dropped off entirely. And while the K-Food boom was driving strong consumer demand across Southeast Asia — Vietnam included — connecting directly with the region’s major retail chains was a different challenge altogether.
“Converting a contact made at an exhibition directly into an export deal is incredibly difficult. Because the buyers aren’t domestic, even meeting them in person is a challenge. Quite often, communication would go back and forth over email for a while, and then just drop off entirely.” — Roh, Misook — CEO, Manna Food
Manna Food joined Tridge’s network through a B2B Pavilion partnership with the Jeonnam Center for Creative Economy & Innovation. MM Mega Market Vietnam, meanwhile, was already a long-standing Tridge trade partner — and at a moment when global demand for Korean seaweed was at a peak, MM Mega Market had an active sourcing need for private-label seaweed products.
Tridge reviewed producers across Jeollanam-do, a region renowned for its seaweed production, and selected Manna Food as its recommended partner. Because Tridge held established relationships with both parties, the introduction moved faster than a cold connection ever could.
This was not a standard finished-goods export. MM Mega Market required a private-label product — which meant negotiating precise specifications from the ground up. Tridge coordinated every detail between both sides: seaweed salinity, oil percentage, Vietnamese import certifications, and product configuration adjustments (lunchbox seaweed reformulated from 4g to 5g; seasoned seaweed snacks packaged in 100g units). Tridge’s Vietnam-based local staff communicated directly with MM Mega Market throughout, ensuring nothing was lost in translation.
An unexpected supply chain disruption added further complexity — naphtha shortages delayed packaging material delivery and pushed the timeline back. Tridge managed the situation from the middle, coordinating both parties until the first shipment cleared.
“We didn’t know Mega Market directly. Tridge made the connection. As things progressed, it became clear that Tridge had a very strong relationship with Mega Market — and that’s what allowed the deal to come together quickly. Tridge managed the whole situation in the middle, and we couldn’t have asked for better.” — Roh, Misook — CEO, Manna Food
Hear directly from Manna Food CEO Roh, Misook and Tridge Export Enablement Manager Andrew Kim on how the deal came together.
MM Mega Market operates 21 wholesale distribution centers across North, Central, and South Vietnam, making it one of the country’s largest retail chains. For Manna Food, this first shipment marked its debut inside a major overseas retail network — a milestone that opens the door to additional product lines not yet exported, and to neighboring markets across the region.
“This is our first time entering a major retail chain — and not just any chain. Mega Market operates across multiple regions and is known as one of the largest in Vietnam. That gives us a real sense of pride. If things go well at Mega Market, we hope to expand into neighboring countries through Tridge as well — and beyond Southeast Asia, into Europe and the US.” — Roh, Misook — CEO, Manna Food
The Manna Food and Tridge partnership was built on more than an introduction. Two years of product sampling, private-label spec negotiation, local-team communication, and supply chain problem-solving preceded the first shipment. That depth of execution — not just network access — is what brought Jeollanam-do’s seasoned seaweed into Vietnam’s largest retail footprint.
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