Thirty Years of Ties at the Lunar New Year Market: Bonghwa’s Red Harvest Colors Seoul

Positive Consumer Response at Gangdong-gu Direct Sales Event
Highland Brand Value Imprinted on the Seoul Metropolitan Area

Bonghwa-gun used the peak Lunar New Year holiday season to step onto a rural-urban win-win stage held in its sister city, Gangdong-gu, firing the signal flare for expanding sales channels toward consumers in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Bonghwa-gun announced that it participated in the Lunar New Year Friendly Cities Specialty Products Direct Sales Market held for two days from the 5th to the 6th at the Open Garden in front of Gangdong-gu Office, where it showcased Bonghwa apples, the region's signature agricultural specialty product.

Participation in Bonghwa-gun Direct Sales Market

This event, hosted by Gangdong-gu, brought together 22 local governments from across the country that have maintained friendly exchanges, and 39 farms came out with agricultural products symbolizing each region to meet citizens preparing holiday tables. By connecting producers and consumers directly without going through large distribution networks, the event served as an occasion to deliver both the trust and quality of products from the production areas.

Bonghwa apples, grown at elevations of 400 meters or higher in semi-highland areas, are widely known for their excellent sweetness and storability, thanks to the region's large daily temperature range. On-site, their firm texture and abundant juice were well received, and it was reported that a significant portion of the prepared quantity sold out quickly.

An official from the county said, "Participation in direct sales markets during every holiday season goes beyond simple sales and serves as a channel to promote the brand value of Bonghwa agricultural products," adding, "We will continue to expand contact points with urban consumers and strengthen support so that this can lead to stable sales channels and increased farm household income."

The two regions have expanded the scope of exchanges in various fields including agriculture, culture, tourism, and sports since signing a sister-city agreement in 1996. In particular, the regularized specialty product markets are now evaluated as having developed from a symbolic cooperation project into a substantial economic partnership.

This meeting, timed to coincide with the period of concentrated holiday spending, became an opportunity to imprint the competitiveness of local agriculture on the Seoul metropolitan market. As a structure takes hold in which production areas secure sales channels and consumers choose trustworthy food, the virtuous cycle model of rural-urban cooperation is becoming even more solid.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.