"Meet Nopul Gochang Watermelon at Hyundai Department Store Online Mall"

Published 17 Jun.2022 14:34(KST)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Jaegil] Gochang-gun, Jeollanam-do has once again joined hands with Hyundai Department Store to sell agricultural specialty products. An online special exhibition of Gochang agricultural specialty products will be held throughout June on ‘Hyundai Food Hall ToHome,’ Hyundai Department Store’s online food shopping mall.

The products sold in this special exhibition are Nopul Gochang watermelons cultivated by experienced farmers certified under the integrated agricultural specialty brand Nopul Gochang from Gochang-gun, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

These are premium high-sugar watermelons selected for their crisp texture, 12 Brix sugar content, and weight of over 8 kg. In April, they won the Grand Prize in the Agricultural Specialty Joint Brand category at the 2022 Korea Representative Brand Awards.

At Hyundai Food Hall ToHome, a single watermelon is available for reservation and sale at 39,900 KRW throughout June only. Due to news that it will be difficult to taste high-quality Nopul Gochang watermelons after this period, the first limited quantity of 200 units quickly sold out, and consumer purchases continue.

Hyundai Food Hall ToHome is a premium food shopping mall operated by Hyundai Department Store, which first collaborated with Gochang-gun in 2021. In March, it also held an online sales event for Gochang agricultural specialty products such as Nopul Gochang rice, gim (seaweed), sweet potatoes, pears, and peanuts.

With changes in consumer trends due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic online agricultural, livestock, and fishery product transaction amount reached 8 trillion KRW in 2021, and premium online malls are continuously increasing. Accordingly, Gochang-gun plans to maintain continuous interest in the online and mobile markets and actively develop sales channels.

Park Seonggi, Director of the Agriculture and Rural Food Division at Gochang County Office, stated, “We will continue to promote online sales events like this special exhibition so that more consumers can purchase Gochang agricultural specialty products in the online agricultural food market.”