'Discovery of Eumsseu' Emart... Discarded Fruits and Vegetables Reborn as Feed

Agreement on 'Food Byproduct Feed Conversion' with Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Ministry of Environment
Byproducts from Fresh Center Supplied as Feed for Hanwoo Cattle

Emart is launching a feed production project using fruit and vegetable byproducts generated at its own distribution facilities.

On the 17th, Emart announced that it signed a "Pilot Project Agreement for High Value-Added Feed Resource Utilization of Food Byproducts" with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Environment.

Emart signed a business agreement on the 17th with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Environment for the "Pilot Project on High-Value Feed Resource Utilization of Food By-products." Officials are taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Emart

The agreement ceremony held on the 15th floor of Emart headquarters was attended by Han Chaeyang, CEO of Emart, Lee Kyunghee, head of ESG, Lee Byunghwa, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment, and Park Beomsu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. In addition, key officials from 12 companies and institutions participating in the food byproduct feed project, including Seoul Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation, NongHyup Economic Holdings, Samsung Welstory, Hyundai Green Food, and Taebaek Feed, were present.

The goal of this business agreement is to create a resource circulation system by converting food byproducts generated during the fresh food distribution process into cooked feed. Emart expects to reduce waste and protect the environment by converting food byproducts generated at its own distribution facility, the Fresh Center, into feed, as well as to reduce byproduct disposal costs.

Emart plans to supply cooked feed made from fruit and vegetable byproducts that were previously classified as waste due to being below size standards or having shapes unsuitable for sale to domestic Korean beef farms. The Emart Fresh Center applies a cold chain system, a frozen air conditioning system, to maintain the freshness of fruits and vegetables, which lowers the possibility of spoilage. Emart provides the food byproducts to Taebaek Feed, a cooked feed manufacturer.

The food byproducts transported from the Fresh Center are treated with heat and steam in a chamber-type cooker, making them soft, which increases digestibility and nutrient absorption. Then, through a fermentation process, the protein content is increased and non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC) are reduced. Korean beef fed with this cooked feed produces less undigested grain in feces and reduces methane gas emissions, positively impacting the environment. Additionally, the beef has a higher essential amino acid content and tender meat quality.

Previously, Emart supplied about 48 tons of byproducts as feed on a pilot basis to local Korean beef farms last year. However, fruit and vegetable byproducts from the Fresh Center were classified as subject to existing waste management regulations, limiting recycling. Emart sees this regulatory special case pilot project as laying the foundation for revitalizing food byproduct recycling.

Emart plans to fully launch food byproduct feed production starting January next year. Han Chaeyang, CEO of Emart, said, "This agreement is an important first step toward a sustainable future," adding, "It will be a good example of sustainable production and consumption by reducing environmental burdens while also helping our feed industry, which heavily depends on imported feed ingredients, and further supporting our livestock farmers."

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