Public Meal Service Platform Rapid Growth... Last Year's Performance Hits Record High of 3.7 Trillion Won

aT Targeted Services for Consumers
From Meal Planning to Ingredient Transactions
Streamlined Operations and Enhanced Safety
Management of Local Agricultural Production and Distribution

The 'Public Meal Service Integrated Platform,' which can be used in all public meal service sectors including schools, military units, kindergartens, daycare centers, and social welfare facilities, has achieved the largest transaction volume ever recorded.

The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) announced on the 10th that the transaction amount on the Public Meal Service Integrated Platform reached 3.7 trillion KRW.

An aT official explained, "Meal services are closely related to a significant portion of the population throughout their life cycle, becoming an important part of our lives," adding, "From early childhood stages such as daycare centers and kindergartens to schools, military, and elderly welfare facilities, the influence of meal services has grown to the extent that they sustain basic dietary life."

Kim Chun-jin, President of aT (4th from the left), is attending the ceremony celebrating the record-high transaction performance of the Public Meal Service Integrated Platform and taking a commemorative photo.

aT consolidated the operational know-how of the 'School Meal Ingredients Electronic Procurement System,' which has been in operation since 2010 to supply ingredients efficiently, fairly, and transparently across all domestic public meal service sectors including schools, military units, kindergartens, daycare centers, and welfare facilities, and launched the Public Meal Service Integrated Platform in September 2022.

By using the Public Meal Service Integrated Platform, public meal service demand institutions can handle all tasks related to ingredient transactions in an integrated manner, from menu planning to bidding, contracting, and settlement. Public Meal Service Support Centers operated by local governments also receive contract cultivation, inventory management, subsidy execution status, and item-specific distribution status through the platform, making the production and distribution management of local agricultural products easier.

aT provides a simple transaction function for small-scale institutions such as kindergartens and daycare centers to trade small quantities without bidding or contract procedures, and has implemented simultaneous bidding for specifications and prices, as well as multi-item unit price contracts.

With these customized services, existing user institutions have expanded ingredient transactions through the Public Meal Service Integrated Platform, and over 300 new institutions including military units, welfare facilities, and highway rest areas have started using the platform.

aT is also focusing on managing suppliers who provide ingredients through a three-stage management system?preliminary, ongoing, and post-management?to ensure that platform users can contract with confidence. To ensure safe ingredient supply, aT collaborates with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to pre-match suppliers’ license numbers and business registration numbers, unifying unique identification numbers. This allows immediate sanctions on suppliers who have received administrative penalties, and strengthens safety management of meal ingredients by activating joint inspections with related agencies and the use of a disguised company reporting center.

Thanks to aT’s efforts to improve user-tailored services and strengthen ingredient quality and safety, the Public Meal Service Integrated Platform achieved a transaction volume of 3.7 trillion KRW last year, following 3.4 trillion KRW in 2022. This represents more than a 1,000-fold growth compared to 3.6 billion KRW in 2010, the first year of operating the School Meal Ingredients Electronic Procurement System. aT plans to continuously communicate with demand institutions and actively reflect field requirements in the system this year, encouraging more public meal service institutions to utilize the platform, leading to a fairer and more efficient public meal service market and contributing to the improvement of the nation’s dietary life.

Kim Chun-jin, President of aT, said, "We have achieved the largest transaction volume ever through continuous customized service improvements and quality safety efforts for public meal service demanders and suppliers," adding, "We will strive to encourage even more institutions to use the Public Meal Service Integrated Platform and take the lead in expanding the consumption base of our agro-fisheries products and local agricultural products."

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