Emart Offers Up to 30% Discount on 'Antibiotic-Free Certified' Pork, Chicken, and Duck Meat

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Emart is taking the lead in popularizing ‘healthy food.’

From the 22nd to the 28th, Emart will hold a week-long event offering up to 30% discounts on antibiotic-free certified pork, chicken, and duck.

Antibiotic-free certified pork (samgyeopsal/pork neck/pork shoulder/ribs) will be discounted by 20% when purchased with the event card, selling samgyeopsal and pork neck at 2,240 KRW per 100g, pork shoulder at 1,000 KRW per 100g, and ribs at 1,000 KRW per 100g. These prices are cheaper than the grade 1 regular pork sold at Emart during the same period.

Antibiotic-free certified refrigerated chicken and duck will be discounted by 20% and 30%, respectively, when purchased with the event card. Chicken for baeksuk (boiled chicken soup) is sold at 3,984 KRW per 1kg pack, and Dahyang grilled duck is sold at 5,516 KRW per 800g pack.

‘Antibiotic-free certification’ is a government-guaranteed certification system for livestock products raised without using antibiotics or antimicrobials in feed and without growth promoters or hormones for the animals.

The ‘antibiotic-free certified’ meat sold at Emart is raised on farms with excellent breeding environments, and it is a safe food product ensured by Emart’s strict internal inspection system combined with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ certification system.

The volume prepared for this event is 33 tons of pork and 3.5 million heads of chicken and duck, making it the largest antibiotic-free meat event Emart has ever held. After about six months of prior planning, it was prepared to allow customers who hesitated to purchase antibiotic-free certified meat due to high prices to buy it easily.

Meanwhile, Emart has been leading the expansion of safe and reliable food sales, noting the increased customer interest in safe food following the 2017 pesticide egg scandal and the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, since May, all fresh chicken and duck sold at Emart have been converted to ‘antibiotic-free certified’ products. After about two years of discussions with partners and efforts to secure antibiotic-free farms, Emart began full-scale product improvement and sales in May this year.

Sales of antibiotic-free fresh chicken and duck, which were about 5.9 billion KRW in May, increased to 8.7 billion KRW and 8.0 billion KRW in July and August, respectively. This year, during the Boknal (the hottest days of summer), Emart became the first large retailer to sell antibiotic-free young chicken for samgyetang, raising the standard for healthy food.

Since June this year, Emart has introduced specialized antibiotic-free pork stores in 13 locations. The antibiotic-free certified pork sold at Emart is supplied by specialized antibiotic-free farms, with representative brands including ‘Hansol Farm’ and ‘Haebal500.’

With gradual store expansion and increased customer interest, sales grew sixfold from 140 million KRW in June to 840 million KRW in September. Emart plans to add specialized antibiotic-free pork stores to 30 locations by the end of this year and 70 locations next year.

During this antibiotic-free meat event, to enable more customers to purchase, Emart will expand sales to all stores by directly producing at the Emart Meat Center in cooperation with antibiotic-free certified farms from the Busan-Gyeongnam and Daejeon-Chungnam pig farming cooperatives through prior planning.

Kim Dong-min, Emart’s Fresh Food Division 2 Manager, said, “As health has become a major topic due to COVID-19, we prepared a large-scale discount event so customers can purchase healthy antibiotic-free meat at affordable prices. As a leading domestic large retailer, we will fulfill our duty to supply healthy ingredients at reasonable prices.”