Local Food Direct Stores, Rapid Growth in 7 Years... Sales from 31.7 Billion to 520.6 Billion Won

Sejong Local Food Direct Market Singsingjangteo Areum Branch

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The scale of 'local food direct stores,' which directly trade agricultural products, has shown rapid growth since 2013.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 26th that the number of local food direct stores increased from 32 locations in 2013 to 469 as of the end of last year, and total sales surged from 31.7 billion KRW to 520.6 billion KRW during the same period.

An official from the Ministry explained, "The characteristics of local food as 'food with a face,' combined with reasonable prices and the freshness of agricultural products, have built strong trust among consumers," adding, "We plan to continuously promote various supports such as strengthening the installation and certification of local food direct stores, organizing farming groups, consumer exchanges, and publicity to further activate local food."

Along with this, the Ministry selected seven local food direct stores as excellent agricultural product direct trading sites: Gangdong-gu Office Singsing Dream, Gimpo Local Food Elite Farmer Joint Sales Store Hyundai Outlet Branch, Sejong Singsing Market Areum Branch, Suncheon Local Food Direct Store Jorye Lake Park Branch, Okcheon Nonghyup Local Food Direct Store, Cheonbuk Nonghyup Local Food Direct Store, and Cheongyang Local Food Direct Store. Since 2017, the Ministry has introduced the 'Excellent Agricultural Product Direct Trading Site Certification System' annually based on criteria such as the proportion of direct-traded agricultural products and the participation rate of elderly and female farmers, targeting agricultural product direct stores nationwide. The number of certified stores increased from 12 in 2017 to 9 in 2018, and 7 more last year, totaling 28 stores operating nationwide.

The Ministry plans to provide budgets for promotion, education for participating farmers, and communication activities with consumers for certified sites. Certified sites will receive additional points when participating in direct trading support projects and will also receive continuous promotional support to increase consumer interest, such as producing best practice casebooks.

Furthermore, to spread excellent cases, some certified sites will be selected and operated as on-site training institutions so that other direct stores wishing to learn the operation methods of excellent certified direct stores can do so.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.