100% Sugar Content Guaranteed Apples, Pears, Shine Muscat Set
New Production Areas Doubled to Supply High-Sugar Fruits
Fruit Gift Pre-Order Sales Up 82%
Hyundai Department Store has taken the initiative to guarantee the sweetness of Chuseok gift fruits. They have raised the sweetness standard by 1-2 brix compared to the shipping origin criteria and are offering products where the sweetness of every fruit included in the gift sets is manually measured one by one.
A Hyundai Department Store employee is checking the sugar content of Shine Muscat grapes to be included in the 'H Sweet High-Sugar Shine Muscat' gift set. [Photo by Hyundai Department Store].
Hyundai Department Store announced on the 13th that during the Chuseok gift set sales period, which continues until the 28th of this month, they will sell a limited number of 200 sets of H Sweet high-sweetness "apples and pears" and 300 sets of "Shine Muscat" at 16 stores nationwide, including the Apgujeong Main Store, selected through a 'non-destructive sweetness measurement full inspection.'
H Sweet is a premium fruit brand introduced by Hyundai Department Store, selected based on sweetness, size, new varieties, and rarity. The H Sweet high-sweetness gift sets are characterized by being composed only of fruits that meet or exceed the sweetness standards measured using light refraction through non-destructive inspection. The sweetness standards are set at 15 brix for apples, 13 brix for pears, and 18 brix for Shine Muscat, which is 1-2 brix higher than the criteria for high sweetness classification at the production site. All fruits included in these sets are manually measured by Hyundai Department Store to guarantee 100% sweetness.
Existing gift sets undergo a total of four sweetness selection stages: before harvest at the production site (stage 1), after harvest at the production site (stage 2), logistics center (stage 3), and packaging (stage 4), maintaining an average sweetness of over 95%. This new gift set adds a full inspection stage of non-destructive sweetness measurement before packaging. Unlike sample inspections, all fruits are manually sorted immediately upon order, limiting the sales quantity. The apple and pear set, consisting of 6 apples and 4 pears, is limited to 200 sets, and the Shine Muscat set includes 4 bunches, limited to 300 sets, priced around 180,000 to 195,000 KRW.
A Hyundai Department Store official explained, "At the packaging and delivery center in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, sweetness is measured manually once more. Unlike machines that measure sweetness only in specific parts, our staff carefully measure the top, bottom, and middle of the fruit."
To maintain fruit sweetness, Hyundai Department Store has more than doubled its production site network since early this year. Even before, fruits with major domestic production sites such as apples, pears, Shine Muscat, apple mango, and strawberries were managed across multiple production sites considering crop conditions. Hyundai Department Store stated that due to unpredictable weather anomalies such as cold damage and autumn typhoons occurring every year, they have discovered more than five additional production sites per item this year to secure high-quality supply. Since this year’s Chuseok is later than usual, allowing a longer fruit growing period, they expect to offer fruits with higher sweetness.
During the Chuseok gift pre-order sales period, which started on the 18th of last month, fruit and vegetable sales increased by 82% compared to last year’s Chuseok. With changing holiday trends, sales of mixed dessert fruit gift sets have increased by more than 30%. It is analyzed that the popularity of new dessert fruit varieties such as Shine Muscat, Hong Mango, Cheong Mango, Apple Mango, and melon has increased alongside traditional fruits like apples and pears.
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