Sancheong County Gov. Yoo Myeonghyeon Seeks Ways to Expand Sales Channels for Agricultural Specialties and Promote Local Food

Producers and vendors meet at Integrated Food Support Center
Requests include delivery-fee support and consolidated distribution operations; county seeks to strengthen local farms' competitiveness

Sancheong County in South Gyeongsang Province held an on-site meeting with producers and representatives of online shopping mall vendors to expand sales channels for local agricultural specialties and promote local food.

The county said it gathered opinions on ways to boost the distribution and sales of local agricultural specialties on October 30 at the Sancheong County Integrated Food Support Center. Sancheong County Governor Yoo Myeong-hyeon attended, along with representatives of the Local Food Vendors' Council and the San and Cheong Shopping Mall Vendors' Council.

[Photo provided by Sancheong County] Sancheong County Governor Yoo Myeonghyeon holds an on-site meeting on the 30th at the Sancheong County Integrated Food Support Center to expand sales channels and boost the distribution and sales of local agricultural specialties, with officials from the Local Food Vendors' Council and the Sanencheong Shopping Mall Vendors' Council in attendance.

The meeting was organized to review the production and distribution of local agricultural specialties and incorporate into county policies the difficulties and requests for improvement that farmers and vendors face on the ground.

Before the meeting, Governor Yoo toured the food ingredient delivery and preprocessing facilities at the Sancheong County Integrated Food Support Center and reviewed the supply of local agricultural products and the operation of public meal programs.

At the meeting that followed, representatives of local food stores and vendors at the San and Cheong Shopping Mall shared the difficulties they encounter in selling agricultural specialties and outlined their need for support.

The main requests included maintaining funding for delivery fees and packaging boxes for vendors at the San and Cheong Shopping Mall; consolidating work related to the distribution and sale of agricultural specialties; operating a Sancheong County agricultural specialties promotion center; and revitalizing tourism at Donguibogam Village and creating a children's play area.

Attendees described the financial pressure caused by rising agricultural production costs and intensifying competition in the online sales market, and called for measures to secure stable sales channels and reduce distribution costs.

In particular, they said continued operation of existing support programs was needed because delivery fees and packaging costs affect the competitiveness of online vendors.

They also discussed the need to manage work related to the distribution and sale of agricultural specialties more efficiently and expand promotional and sales initiatives linked to local tourism resources.

Sancheong County plans to review the requests raised at the meeting, consult with relevant departments on measures that can be implemented, and assess the feasibility of initiatives requiring budgetary or institutional review.

The county also plans to consider a range of measures to strengthen the competitiveness of local food vendors and San and Cheong Shopping Mall vendors, including support for production capacity, quality control, brand development, and distribution and sales.

It will continue to pursue ways to increase the supply of local agricultural products and link them to public meal programs through the Sancheong County Integrated Food Support Center.

The county plans to focus its policies on increasing local consumption of locally produced agricultural products and strengthening distribution systems that connect producers and consumers.

However, to ensure the business stability of vendors and expand their sales channels, it is necessary to continually assess actual sales performance and the impact on farm incomes, rather than relying solely on promotion or the operation of support programs.

Sancheong County Governor Yoo Myeong-hyeon said, "We will establish a foundation that provides producers with stable sales channels and supplies consumers with local agricultural specialties," adding, "We will review the opinions raised on the ground and explore ways to support the distribution and sale of agricultural specialties."

The key to Sancheong County's efforts to promote its agricultural specialties is whether support for producers and expanded sales channels lead to higher farm incomes.

In particular, it is important to assess the effectiveness of existing programs, including delivery fee support, and establish a sustainable distribution and sales support system based on online sales figures and the business performance of vendors.

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