Emart Expands Sugar Content Labeling System... "Will Set a New Milestone for Fruit Taste"

Emart Implements Sugar Content Labeling System for 12 Items Including Watermelon, Apple, and Pear
Sugar Content Displayed Based on Buyer-Set Standards per Fruit, Biweekly Measurements at Stores
'Sugar Content' Most Important Criterion for Consumers Choosing Fruit
"Enhancing Visibility of Fruit Sugar Content to Ensure Clear Taste"

A customer is examining a watermelon at the fruit section of E-Mart.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Emart announced on the 19th that it will expand the fruit sweetness labeling system, which was previously applied only to certain items such as watermelon, pear, and apple, to 12 items including chamoe and three types of citrus fruits.

Emart has been piloting Brix (sweetness) labeling on some items such as watermelon, apple, pear, and strawberry since the end of last year. Based on positive customer feedback, this year it selected chamoe, Hallabong, Cheonhyehyang, and Redhyang?three types of citrus fruits?as additional sweetness-labeled products.

Customers purchasing fruits at large supermarkets have faced difficulties in objectively judging which products are fresher or tastier. They had to rely on store staff assistance, internet information, or personal experience to choose fruits. Emart aims to increase trust in the taste of its fruits by making 'sweetness,' one of the key indicators of fruit flavor, visible through this sweetness labeling system.

For nine items such as watermelon, apple, pear, and chamoe, whose sweetness can be measured using a sweetness sorter, the standard sweetness level for each product will be displayed on the packaging. For three items?strawberry, grape, and peach?where using a sweetness sorter is difficult due to fruit characteristics, the average sweetness will be calculated from ten daily sample measurements and displayed for sale.

Emart plans to check the conformity of standard sweetness levels biweekly not only at the production sites but also in stores to reduce the margin of error in sweetness of incoming products and increase customer trust.

However, some planned products where freshness is more critical than sweetness, such as 'strawberries harvested at dawn,' will be excluded from the sweetness labeling system. For product groups with large sweetness variations during the season, sweetness labeling will be applied only during the main season.

Emart expanded the sweetness labeling system because 'sweetness' is the most important factor consumers consider when purchasing fruits. According to a food consumption behavior survey conducted last year by the Korea Rural Economic Institute, 40.8% of respondents ranked taste (sweetness) as the top priority when buying fruits, surpassing quality (22.8%) and price (18.6%). According to last year's agricultural food consumption trend analysis by the Rural Development Administration, sweetness labeling (97.6%) was identified as the number one consumer demand when purchasing fruits.

Emart confirmed that visualization to appeal to internal quality is most important when selling fruits and plans to expand sweetness labeling to other products such as plums in the future. It also aims to reduce sweetness variation between products to increase trust in Emart fruit taste and repurchase satisfaction.

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