[Distribution Hot People] "Searching for Good Apples... Heading Straight to Yanggu, Gangwon-do"

High Sugar Content and Firm Flesh
Introduced After 9 Months of Persuasion
Visited Various Production Areas on Foot

"I went to Cheongsong, Gyeongbuk, which produces the most apples, and I heard that many growers had moved up to Yanggu, Gangwon-do. After hearing that, I headed straight to Yanggu."

Donghun Kim, Product Planner (MD) of the Fruit Team at Lotte Mart

On the afternoon of the 8th, Kim Dong-hoon, a fruit team merchandiser (MD) at Lotte Mart headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul, said, "When I actually visited, Yanggu apples had high sugar content and firm flesh, resulting in excellent quality," adding, "They had the optimal conditions of a high altitude and a large temperature difference between day and night, which are ideal for growing apples."

Yanggu apples are cultivated in a basin located at an altitude of 400 to 500 meters in Ha-an-myeon, Yanggu, near the 38th parallel, the gateway from Geumgangsan to Chuncheon. Kim MD explained, "This area is surrounded like a fruit bowl, so it is nicknamed the Punch Bowl Village," and introduced, "Apples grow well at an average annual temperature of 8 to 11 degrees Celsius, and Yanggu's average annual temperature is about 9.8 degrees."

The process of introducing Yanggu apples was not easy. Kim MD said, "When I visited the Yanggu County Nonghyup Ha-an Agricultural Products Distribution Center (APC) in spring 2021, there was not much volume, and they said they had no intention of dealing with distribution companies," adding, "After nine months of persuasion and effort, we were able to conduct a pilot sale during the opening of Lotte Mart Zeta Plex Jamsil branch that winter, and in December last year, we officially launched Yanggu Punch Bowl apples."

For fruit MDs, the northward shift of cultivation areas is a factor that makes climate change tangible. Kim MD stated, "Originally, more than 70% of apples came from Gyeongsang-do. Now, cultivation is active in Chungcheong-do and Gangwon-do regions as well," and added, "Citrus fruits are being grown in inland areas such as Naju, Daejeon, and Chungju, and pears are also produced in large quantities in central northern regions like Cheonan and Pyeongtaek."

Ultimately, the most important thing to find various fruit production areas is to put in the legwork. Kim MD emphasized, "Many customers ask, 'Why don't you sell the products famous in my hometown?' So we go to the production areas and collaborate with local governments, agricultural technology centers, and agricultural cooperatives," adding, "We also check social networking services (SNS), the internet, farming technology manuals, and academic journals daily."

The distinguishing feature of Lotte Mart's fruits is fresh fruit with high sugar content. Kim MD said, "We supply products based on 100% non-destructive sugar content selection and apply strict selection standards," and added, "We are also expanding the 'Sanji Ttukshim' project, which sells fresh fruit as if it were just moved from the production area. We operate a local MD system that collaborates with farmers in each region to directly connect excellent production areas and producers with local stores."

This year's goal is to activate the K-variety project. Kim MD said, "We are helping to restore seed sovereignty and increase farmers' income by selling excellent domestic varieties and new agricultural products," and added, "Unlike in the past, we need to know everything about what, how, where, and how much to cultivate. Therefore, most of Lotte Mart's fruit MDs take the agricultural product auctioneer exam to gain expertise."

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