Suncheon Maesil, Woongjin Foods Co., Ltd. Supplies Raw Materials for 'Chorok Maesil' Beverage

by Heo Seonsik

Published 16 May.2023 13:26(KST)

Updated 15 Aug.2025 15:40(KST)

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Signed a Business Agreement Between Woongjin Foods and Processed Maesil Sales Promotion

Suncheon City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Noh Gwan-gyu) announced on the 15th that Suncheon City, Suncheon Nonghyup, and Woongjin Foods Co., Ltd. signed a business agreement to promote the sales of processed plums produced in Suncheon at the Suncheon Nonghyup conference room.

Suncheon is a leading domestic plum production area with about 2,200 farms and 1,200 hectares, producing approximately 4,600 tons annually. The plums harvested from late May to late June have a high organic acid content and are used for processing into products such as plum kimchi, plum extract, plum tea, and plum vinegar. They are known as a fruit necessary for modern people who consume many instant foods.

[Photo by Suncheon City]

Woongjin Foods Co., Ltd., representing the domestic beverage market with 424 dealerships nationwide and over 250 overseas subsidiaries, offers various product lines such as ‘Chorok Maesil,’ ‘Achim Haetsal,’ and ‘Haneul Bori,’ and uses about 1,000 tons of processed plums annually.

The ‘Chorok Maesil’ beverage has established itself as Korea’s representative plum drink since its launch in 1999, starting with being awarded one of the top 10 hit products in 2000. After signing the agreement, Woongjin Foods presented 100 boxes of Chorok Maesil beverages worth 3 million won to encourage the plum sorting workers.

Processed plums from Suncheon started supplying 285 tons in 2021 and 350 tons in 2022. With this agreement, 40-50% of the annual usage of processed plums for Woongjin Foods’ representative plum beverage ‘Chorok Maesil’ raw materials is expected to be supplied from Suncheon, which is anticipated to play a significant role in promoting Suncheon plums.

Lee Ki-jung, Director of the Agricultural Technology Center, said, “We hope that the supply of processed plums from Suncheon to Woongjin Foods’ ‘Chorok Maesil’ raw materials will lead to increased promotion of Suncheon plums, strengthened market competitiveness, and ultimately improved farm income.”