Damyang 'Daesup Malgeun Rice' Wins Grand Prize as One of Jeonnam's Top 10 High-Quality Brand Rices

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province (Governor Kim Young-rok) announced on the 20th that it has selected the ‘Top 10 High-Quality Brand Rice of Jeonnam’ representing Jeonnam this year.

Damyang’s ‘Daesup Malgeun Damyang Rice’ won the grand prize.

The grand excellence award went to Yeonggwang’s ‘Sagyeyeol-i Saneunjip’, the excellence awards were given to Muan’s ‘Hwangtorang Rice’, Boseong’s ‘Nokchamiin Boseong Rice’, and Yeongam’s ‘Dalmagi Ssalgold’, while the encouragement awards were awarded to Gangjin’s ‘Premium Hopyeong’, Hampyeong’s ‘Nabi Rice’, Haenam’s ‘Hanune Banhan Rice’, Gokseong’s ‘Baeksemi’, and Hwasun’s ‘Jayeonsok Aesunmi’.

This selection was made through a strict blind evaluation process commissioned to specialized institutions in each field to select rice that consumers trust and seek, with thorough quality control from production to processing, storage, and distribution.

In particular, to enhance fairness, samples were randomly collected twice (in March and April) from retail outlets. The Korea Food Research Institute evaluated taste and aroma, the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service assessed rice quality (such as broken grains and foreign matter contamination), the Agricultural Technology Institute conducted physicochemical tests including variety and DNA analysis, and the Health and Environment Research Institute tested for residual pesticides and heavy metals, performing detailed inspections by each institution.

The grand prize winner, Damyang Daesup Malgeun Rice, received excellent evaluations across taste and physicochemical quality assessments.

The grand excellence award winner, Yeonggwang Sagyeyeol-i Saneunjip, excelled in taste and single variety increase rate, while the three brands awarded excellence, including Hwangtorang Rice, achieved outstanding results in taste and mechanical quality evaluations.

The awards ceremony will be held in July, and the prize money of 150 million KRW will be differentially supported by grade to be used for quality improvement, sales promotion, and marketing of the brand rice.

The province plans to actively promote the excellence of Jeonnam rice, focusing on the metropolitan area, Jeju, and Yeongnam regions, which are the largest domestic consumption areas, and to conduct joint marketing with Nonghyup Hanaro Mart and large distribution companies.

Kim Kyungho, Director of the Agriculture, Livestock and Food Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, “The Top 10 High-Quality Brand Rice of Jeonnam has already been objectively proven in terms of quality and taste. We plan to expand sales through nationwide Nonghyup Hanaro Marts, large distribution companies, and online and offline channels.”

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