Lotte Mart Wins First Place for Two Consecutive Years at the 'GAP Best Practice Competition'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Lotte Mart announced on the 26th that it won first place in the offline distribution category at the ‘6th GAP Best Practice Competition’.

Now in its sixth year, this competition is hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to promote nationwide expansion of GAP certification and discover outstanding farms. Organizations recommended by local governments nationwide undergo a three-stage evaluation process including document review and on-site inspection to select winners. ‘GAP’ stands for ‘Good Agricultural Practices’ and certifies agricultural products grown domestically that meet over 110 management criteria from production through harvesting, packaging, and distribution stages.

The offline distribution category was newly established in 2019. Lotte Mart won first place in this category last year and has now earned the honor for two consecutive years. The reason Lotte Mart received excellent evaluations for winning first place two years in a row is attributed to various activities such as developing and promoting GAP products and educating producer groups based on Lotte Mart’s own standards.

Since 2014, Lotte Mart has strengthened fresh food as part of enhancing the competitiveness of large supermarkets. Through product operations based on production regions, exclusive GAP facility certification for the first fresh quality innovation center among distributors, and expansion of local food, Lotte Mart has communicated to customers that “agricultural products sold at Lotte Mart are safe and fresh.”

Additionally, in 2018, Lotte Mart signed a business agreement with the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service and producer groups to lay the foundation for expanding GAP. They have been holding promotional events 3 to 4 times a year featuring seasonal GAP-certified agricultural products. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Lotte Central Research Institute, Lotte Mart has created its own production guidelines to strengthen safety management throughout the entire distribution process.

In fact, Lotte Mart has continuously increased its handling of GAP agricultural products, expanding from about 5,000 tons in 2016 to 15,000 tons as of 2020. Moreover, in 2019, to improve the quality of fresh food, they launched the GAP-based Sanji Ttukshim brand, discovering and nurturing excellent local product producers.

To commemorate this award, from October 29 to November 4, all stores nationwide will hold a ‘GAP Certified Agricultural Products Fair.’ Featured products include ‘GAP Haenam Hwasan Pumpkin Sweet Potato (1.5kg/box/domestic)’ priced at 8,980 KRW, ‘GAP Jeju Hwanggeumhyang (1kg/bag/domestic)’ offered to L.Point members at 9,800 KRW, which is 3,000 KRW off the regular price, and ‘GAP Pear (3?5 pieces/bag/domestic)’ sold at 15,800 KRW.

Meanwhile, Lotte Mart plans to achieve 100% GAP certification for domestic fruits by 2030.

Kim Chang-yong, Head of Lotte Mart’s Product Division, said, “Winning first place for two consecutive years in the offline distribution category of the GAP Best Practice Competition proves the excellence of Lotte Mart’s agricultural products. We will continue to strive to offer customers agricultural products they can trust and enjoy.”