'Sintoburi'... Food and Dining Industry Accelerates 'Sweet' Win-Win Cooperation with Korean Farmers

Expansion of Support for Farms Affected by COVID-19, Typhoons, and Monsoon Rains This Year
Active Use of Domestic Ingredients Such as Potatoes, Carrots, and Dasima
Ourhome and CJ Freshway Plan to Increase Contract Farming with Farmers

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] Bread and ice cream made from Pyeongchang potatoes, snacks made with domestic acacia honey. Domestic food and dining companies are actively participating in the revival of 'our products' by continuously introducing food items using domestically grown agricultural products.

SPC and Nongshim "Helping Farmers Affected by COVID-19 and Rainy Season"

According to the dining industry on the 24th, SPC has been collaborating with more than 12 farms over the past 10 years since 2010, introducing bakery and ice cream products using more than 18 types of agricultural products. The items include onions, garlic, red beans, paprika, glutinous rice, mini apples, and garlic, among others. Especially this year, to support domestic farms damaged by COVID-19, typhoons, and the rainy season, SPC is partnering with Pyeongchang-gun (potatoes), Jeju-si (carrots), and others to launch new products in the second half of the year.

Through the bakery Paris Baguette, they have released products such as 'Gangwon-do Small Potato Bread' and 'Whole Potato Cheese Bread' using 'Dubek Potatoes' grown in Gangwon-do. At the end of this month, they plan to launch cakes, Sandosong sandwiches, and muffins made with Jeju Gujwa carrots. Last month, through their affiliate BR Korea, they introduced 'Michin Potato' ice cream.

Nongshim also sources key ingredients used in their best-selling products from domestic farms, maintaining a sweet win-win relationship for decades. From January to April, the amount of kelp from Wando, Jeollanam-do, used in the production of 'Neoguri' increased by about 30% compared to the previous year, totaling 150 tons. Most of the kelp secured at the end of last year was also used.

Nongshim purchases 400 tons of Wando kelp annually for Neoguri production, but this year, due to the 'Jjapaguri' (Jjapaghetti + Neoguri) craze, the kelp stock was quickly depleted from the beginning of the year. The amount of kelp purchased annually by Nongshim is the largest in the domestic food industry, accounting for 15% of the region's annual dried kelp production. Since the launch of Neoguri in 1982 until last year, the cumulative purchase volume has reached about 15,000 tons.

Nongshim also consumes about 170 tons of acacia honey annually from production areas nationwide through its 'Honey Twisted Snack.' Over 48 years, Nongshim has purchased about 8,000 tons of domestic honey, which is the largest volume in the snack industry and accounts for 25% of the annual domestic acacia honey production. Unlike existing potato chips that only used imported potatoes, they also produce 'Sumi Chips' made from 100% domestic potatoes.

Reducing Imported Agricultural Products and Replacing with Domestic

In the food industry, Ourhome procures agricultural products such as kimchi brine, seasoned vegetables, leafy vegetables, and fruits and vegetables through contract farming at production sites. The annual transaction volume reaches about 28,000 tons. A representative from Ourhome explained, "When weather conditions worsen or pests and diseases occur, crop yields may be lower than expected. This year, to help farmers affected by typhoons, we purchased agricultural products at prices higher than the existing contract prices."

Ourhome is also in the process of replacing imported agricultural products with domestic ones where possible. They plan to expand the items that can be replaced with domestic products to a scale of 50 billion KRW by next year.

This year, 3,098 farms participated in CJ Freshway's contract farming, with an expected purchase volume of about 66,000 tons. Compared to when contract farming first started in 2015, the number of farms has increased 22 times, and the purchase volume has increased 17 times. This year's contract farming is conducted over 5,460 hectares (54.6 km²) in 51 regions nationwide, which is 20 times the size of Yeouido.

A CJ Freshway representative said, "We plan to continuously expand contract farming next year to promote mutual growth with farmers. The expected additional purchase volume is about 70,000 tons, an increase of about 5% compared to this year."

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