"Lotte Department Store Gangnam Branch Launches Premium Fruit Specialty Section Featuring Only Top-Ranked Fruits"

Master of Hallabong in the current administration.

Premium Competition Intensifies Among Domestic Department Stores with Top Auction Price Fruits from Garak Market, New Fruit Varieties
'Quality Assurance' through Collaboration with Famous Nationwide Production Areas and Local Agricultural Cooperatives
"We Will Showcase the Highest Quality Fruits and Master Fruits Trending on SNS"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Lotte Department Store Gangnam Branch announced on the 28th that it will open a 'Premium Fruit Specialty Hall' on the 1st of next month, where top-grade fruits personally selected by specialized fruit buyers (product planners) will be sold.

These days, the fruit market is seeing new varieties and fruits pursuing the highest freshness every day. Fierce quality competition is underway as various distribution channels introduce top auction price fruits or new fruit varieties that improve the shortcomings of existing fruits.

Lotte Department Store's fruit and vegetable product category showed about a 10% sales growth rate from January to October this year, and during this period, the average spending per customer increased by about 12%. It was analyzed that customer interest in premium fruits is rising. Based on accumulated customer purchase data for fruits and vegetables, Lotte Department Store explained that it analyzed customer demand and will introduce a 'Premium Fruit Specialty Hall' aiming for the best experts, the best production areas, and the best quality.

Lotte Department Store newly recruited experienced specialized fruit buyers and professionalized all processes from selecting farms to store display. Due to the nature of fruit products, the highest quality products are often stored at famous production area auction markets or consumed locally during harvest season. The competition to secure production area farms to supply such fruits is also very intense. Lotte Department Store said it selected specialized fruit buyers with abundant field experience to diversify sourcing, and together with local specialized partners, selected excellent farms and participated in all processes from production to supply. Through this, it was explained that they were able to secure a large supply volume at the time when the highest quality fruits grown in about 20 farms from four of the best domestic production areas (Yeongju, Sangju, Nonsan, Seogwipo) are shipped.

The Gangnam Branch Premium Fruit Specialty Hall aims to be a 'store that sells only first-place fruits' and plans to showcase the highest quality fruits of each season through prior collaboration with famous production area farms and local agricultural cooperatives. With the full-fledged strawberry season approaching, high-quality products such as Geumsil, Seolhyang, Jukhyang, Kingsberry, and Vitaberry grown in the Nonsan area, known as the top production area, will be introduced. Through regular quality management by local agricultural cooperatives, the highest quality will be maintained throughout the season. The representative premium fruit Shine Muscat is collaborated with farms and local agricultural cooperatives in Sangju, the main production area. Sangju Shine Muscat, boasting excellent sweetness, is characterized by its thin skin and firm texture.

The premium Hallabong developed by 'Hyeon Jeong-gwon,' a master of Hallabong from Seogwipo, Jeju, will also be directly sourced from the production area and showcased. In the future, various events such as live broadcasts directly from the production area or selling fruits produced by famous masters from well-known production areas trending on SNS at offline stores are planned.

Cho Hwan-seop, head of Lotte Department Store Gangnam Branch, said, "Lotte Department Store Gangnam Branch has a large scale of food sales, especially high sales in the fruit and vegetable category, making it the first to launch the 'First-Place Fruit Search Project.' We plan to continuously introduce the highest quality fruits domestically and internationally to meet diverse customer demands."

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