Lotte Mart and Supermarkets Sell Unique Korean Fruits Like 'Eunhyang Strawberry' and 'Heart Gold Kiwi'

'K Pumjong Project' Initiative
Aimed at Reducing Foreign Seed Royalties

Lotte Mart and its supermarkets announced on the 16th that they will introduce seasonal fruits of this winter in new varieties.

Fruit team MDs (Merchandisers) promoting K-variety strawberries and kiwi chestnuts at the fruit section of Lotte Mart Zeta Plex Jamsil branch. Provided by Lotte Mart.

Starting from the 19th, Lotte Mart and its supermarkets will offer the winter seasonal ‘Eunhyang Strawberry’. Eunhyang Strawberry is a new variety artificially crossbred from ‘Daewang’ and ‘Durihyang’, a new variety filed by the Chungnam Strawberry Research Institute in 2021. Both Daewang and Durihyang strawberries share the characteristics of excellent firmness, resisting bruising, and high sweetness. Combining the strengths of these two varieties, the newly developed Eunhyang Strawberry features appropriate acidity, abundant juice, excellent sweetness, and a subtle green grape aroma. Its sweetness is about 15% higher compared to the common ‘Seolhyang Strawberry’. Additionally, Lotte Mart and its supermarkets plan to introduce various new strawberry varieties such as ‘Joyberry’ and ‘Vitaking Strawberry’ within this month.

Lotte Mart’s introduction of new fruit varieties is part of the ‘K-Variety Project’ initiated in 2020. This project aims to reduce royalties paid for foreign varieties and promote domestic varieties. Through providing distribution channels and promotion for new varieties, Lotte Mart encourages the actual income increase of cultivating farmers. So far, Lotte Mart has operated about 20 K-variety fruits including ‘Black Winner Watermelon’ and ‘Summer King Apple’. The cumulative sales of all K-variety fruit products this year have increased by more than 15% compared to the previous year.

In collaboration with the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Lotte Mart also sells the ‘Jeju Heart Gold Kiwi’. This is a K-new variety kiwi called ‘Gamwhang’, bred by crossing the ‘Hongsim’ and ‘Okcheon’ varieties. It is called ‘Heart Gold Kiwi’ due to its heart shape. The main production area is Jeju Island, where cultivation began in 2021 and the first harvest was made last year. Compared to existing gold kiwis, this kiwi is about 20% larger and features excellent sweetness with a maximum sugar content of 19 Brix after ripening. Since existing kiwis have mainly been imported, the expansion of the ‘Jeju Heart Gold Kiwi’ distribution is expected to reduce royalty burdens, thereby benefiting farmers’ income and promoting the active expansion of domestically produced tropical fruits with stable quality.

On the 6th, Lotte Mart newly introduced the ‘Okgwang Chestnut’. As its name suggests, meaning ‘jade-like shine’, Okgwang Chestnuts have thin skins, are round and glossy, and have higher sweetness compared to common varieties.

Going forward, Lotte Mart plans to continuously expand the operation of K-variety agricultural products to inform customers about new domestic varieties. For new variety development, they will actively participate from the seed development stage through production and distribution in collaboration with the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, regional research institutes, and seed companies.

Bang Junha, MD (Merchandiser) of the Fruit Team at Lotte Mart and Supermarkets, said, “We are proud to be able to present winter seasonal agricultural products through Lotte Mart and Supermarkets’ ‘K-Variety Project’. We will continue to discover various new domestic varieties to provide consumers with a differentiated shopping experience and offer farmers practical opportunities for income improvement.”