'1-Hour to the Mart' Rural Village... CU Deploys Mobile Convenience Store 'Chul-dong'

CU, Jeonbuk Special Autonomous Province-FDA Sign Business Agreement
'Naejibap Mobile Market' in 5 Villages of Jinan and Imsil Counties
Using Mobile Convenience Stores... Handling Over 170 Types of Daily Necessities

BGF Retail announced on the 12th that it will carry out the 'Naejipap Mobile Market' project for local purchase refugees using mobile convenience stores for one month in collaboration with the Jeonbuk Provincial Government and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

This project will be conducted by BGF Retail's mobile convenience stores operating CU convenience stores, which will move to five villages in Jinan-gun and Imsil-gun, Jeonbuk, every Thursday to operate. The mobile convenience stores have been directly moving to areas lacking convenience facilities such as university festivals and soccer stadiums to sell products and services.

CU's mobile convenience store. Provided by BGF Retail

The mobile convenience stores are equipped with facilities comparable to regular stores, including display shelves, freezers, refrigerated showcases, and POS systems. BGF Retail introduced and has been operating mobile convenience stores the size of a 3.5-ton truck for the first time in the industry in 2019.

For the Naejipap Mobile Market project, BGF Retail loads about 170 types of food and daily necessities, including snacks, beverages, fruits, and vegetables, onto the mobile convenience stores and travels approximately 700 km every week. Considering the limited purchasing opportunities in the area, the products were selected mainly for large quantities and cost-effectiveness, and healthcare products were prepared to meet the needs of the elderly population. Additionally, the Jeonbuk Provincial Government provided a list of items desired by village residents in advance, which was reflected in the product lineup.

This project gained momentum after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced the legislative notice of the Enforcement Decree of the Livestock Products Sanitation Control Act in October. The main content of the legislation is to ease regulations so that food retailers can display and sell livestock products (packaged meat) in refrigerated and frozen facilities installed in mobile vehicles. As a result, local residents can now purchase packaged meat at mobile convenience stores.

Lee Eun-gwan, Head of the Strategy MD Team at BGF Retail, said, "This project will serve as an opportunity for BGF Retail to improve shopping conditions in low population density areas and to gauge concrete methods to solve social problems that may arise in the future." He added, "CU will continue to make every effort to contribute to society in line with the corporate philosophy of being a good friend to our society."

Meanwhile, BGF Retail operates mobile convenience stores with customized product lineups reflecting weather and customer characteristics. The number of CU mobile convenience store operations recorded 11 cases immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, about 30 cases last year, and already exceeded last year's cumulative number with about 50 cases from January to November this year.

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