Inside the strawberry greenhouse of "Park Hyuk-soo Farmhouse" located in Sugok-myeon, Jinju-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, at 8 a.m. on the 23rd. Even in the early morning, five Southeast Asian workers were busy harvesting strawberries in the strawberry field, which reached 90% humidity.
Park Hyuk-soo, CEO of Park Hyuk-soo Farmhouse, which operates the largest number of greenhouses (37) in Sugok-myeon, explained, "The first strawberries picked in the morning will be placed on Kim's Club shelves across the country in the afternoon of the day." The harvest was also in full swing at a strawberry farm in Geumgok-myeon, Jinju City this morning. Cho Jae-kwon, CEO of the KS Agricultural Cooperative Corporation, said, "As we do direct transactions with Kim's Club this year, the middle margin disappears, increasing farm income and allowing consumers to purchase fresher strawberries.
E-Land Kims Club has signed direct contracts with strawberry farmers in Jinju City, the largest strawberry producer in Korea, this year, causing a great repercussion in the strawberry market. For the first time in the distribution industry, the distribution stage of strawberries has been drastically reduced from 7th stage (mountain, selection market, wholesale market, auction, intermediate wholesaler, mart, consumer) to 4th stage (mountain, selection market, mart, consumer) to sell fresh strawberries at a much lower price than competitors. As of the 27th, a pack of strawberries (500g) sold to Kim's Club nationwide was 10,900 won, 4,000 won to 6,000 won cheaper than other large discount stores. The price is about 40 percent cheaper even though the new strawberries that were picked on the same day are displayed on shelves in one day.
Read more at Maeil Business Newspaper