YEOJU — Yeoju has partnered with GS Retail (007070) to expand consumption of local farm produce and strengthen the competitiveness of its agricultural brand.
The city said on the 12th that it recently signed a cooperation agreement with GS Retail to develop products made from local farm produce and widen their distribution. Under the deal, salad products carrying Yeoju's joint agricultural brand "Daewangnimpyo Yeoju" will be offered to consumers at GS25 convenience stores nationwide.
Attendees at the signing ceremony included Yeoju Mayor Lee Chung-woo; Lee Jong-eon, head of the city's economy and environment bureau; Lee Sang-hwi, head of the Yeoju Joint Agricultural Brand Promotion Center; Lee Sung-han, head of GS Retail's merchandising division; Lee Ki-chul, head of its convenience meal merchandising unit; Ahn Eun-yeop, chief executive of the farming corporation Eunseong; and Shin Seung-ho, chairman of the National Sweet Potato Federation.
GS Retail will develop the products using Yeoju farm produce together with Eunseong, its salad partner company. The items will carry the "Daewangnimpyo Yeoju" joint brand and will go on sale in stages through the nationwide GS25 network.
The key ingredient is sweet potato, Yeoju's signature crop. The salad lineup will use "Daewangnimpyo Yeojukkuma" sweet potatoes from Yeoju, one of the main sweet potato growing areas in the greater Seoul region, combining local identity with commercial appeal.
Yeoju sweet potatoes are grown in sandy soil with wide daily temperature swings, conditions well suited to the crop. They are known as chestnut sweet potatoes with a distinctively dry, fluffy texture and high quality. The partnership is significant in extending that competitiveness into convenience meals that match recent consumption trends.
The first product, "Yeoju Sweet Potato Chicken Breast Energy Ball," launches on the 13th and targets consumers focused on health and weight management. It tops chicken breast and eggs with chestnut sweet potatoes from Yeoju and also includes vegetables grown in the city. It is priced at 4,900 won.
Two more products, "Yeoju Sweet Potato Egg Bacon Balance Ball" and "Yeoju Sweet Potato Honey & Ricotta Salad," will follow. The city expects the expanding sweet potato lineup to broaden a stable consumption base for local farm produce.
The agreement also draws attention as a public-private cooperation model that links production and supply, product development, nationwide distribution and joint brand promotion. It adds a major retailer's product planning capability and sales network to local produce to create new value.
"It is meaningful that fresh vegetables and sweet potatoes grown in Yeoju have been developed into salad products and will meet consumers at about 18,000 GS25 convenience stores nationwide," Mayor Lee said. "This agreement raises the brand competitiveness of 'Daewangnimpyo Yeoju' and widens the growth potential of farming in Yeoju."
The Yeoju Joint Agricultural Brand Promotion Center will carry out online promotion and joint brand marketing in line with the product launches. "We will expand strategic cooperation with retailers to raise the brand value of Yeoju farm produce," center head Lee Sang-hwi said. "We will continue pursuing cooperative projects that help farmers secure sales channels and increase their incomes."