'Farm Support' CJ Freshway Launches Contract Farming on an Area 80 Times the Size of a Soccer Field

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] CJ Freshway announced on the 7th that it will expand its contract farming areas to support farms struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. This year, seven new regions including Yesan in Chungnam, Yeongyang in Gyeongbuk, and Yeongwol in Gangwon will be added. Including 27 existing regions such as Taebaek in Gangwon, Bonghwa in Gyeongbuk, Iksan in Jeonbuk, and Nonsan in Chungnam, contract farming will be conducted in a total of 34 regions nationwide.

The contract farming area this year is expected to be 5,492 hectares (54.9 km²), approximately a 16% increase compared to last year. This is about 80 times the size of a soccer field (approximately 7,420㎡). The number of participating farms will also increase by 20%, from 2,391 to 2,852. The volume handled is estimated to increase by about 10% from 43,000 tons last year to 47,000 tons.

The variety of items will also diversify. The number of contract farming agricultural products will increase from 15 last year to 20. In addition to existing items such as rice, potatoes, radishes, and cabbage, new items like albaegibaechu (small napa cabbage), dried chili peppers, zucchini, and young radish greens will be added.

CJ Freshway explained, "Contract farming is a win-win model between farms and companies," adding, "Farms can respond stably to environmental changes such as external price fluctuations and market concerns through contract farming, while companies can secure high-quality agricultural products, enhancing product and price competitiveness." In the case of the representative crop, rice, CJ Freshway reduced costs by 5% last year, and farms increased their yield by 6%.

Synergistic effects are also expected with the recently launched metropolitan and eastern region PS centers. Agricultural products secured through contract farming are delivered to PS centers, where they undergo processing and standardization before being transported collectively to consumers, thereby reducing distribution time.

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