Tailored business consulting, courtesy and hygiene training, and 'Hongstar' promotional hygiene supplies for restaurants
Initiative aims to raise restaurant management and service capabilities while building a welcoming image for Hongeo Street
Naju, a city in South Jeolla Province, has launched a field-centered initiative to raise the competitiveness, hygiene standards and service quality of restaurants along Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street — a dining district known for hongeo, a traditional fermented skate dish — while strengthening the street's distinctive identity. The effort spans tailored business consulting for individual restaurants, courtesy and hygiene training, and the distribution of promotional hygiene supplies featuring the city's mascot "Hongstar."
Naju, led by Mayor Yun Byeong-tae, announced Friday that it had conducted customized business consulting for restaurants on Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street from June through July as part of its "Namdo Food Street Prestige Project."
The consulting assessed the operating conditions and challenges of each establishment in advance, then offered tailored recommendations covering menu composition, marketing, hygiene management and service improvement.
Through on-site individual consultations, consultants worked alongside restaurant operators to identify difficulties in day-to-day operations and areas requiring improvement, and to develop practical solutions for raising customer satisfaction and strengthening each establishment's competitiveness.
The city also held courtesy and hygiene training sessions for restaurant owners and staff, covering basic hygiene practices including sanitation management, food safety, food-poisoning prevention and personal hygiene, while emphasizing the importance of customer service and hospitality.
Alongside this, the city produced and distributed promotional hygiene supplies featuring the Hongstar character to help create a clean operating environment at Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street restaurants and boost awareness of the district.
The Hongstar character was applied to table covers, chopstick holders and aprons to project a friendly image to diners and make hongeo — the street's signature dish — more approachable to visitors.
The initiative went beyond simply providing supplies, linking tailored business consulting, courtesy and hygiene training, and the distribution of branded hygiene items to comprehensively raise restaurants' management capabilities and their standards of hygiene and service.
A notable aspect of the effort is that everyday items used inside the restaurants carry the Hongstar character and the identity of Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street, effectively turning each establishment into a promotional space for the district.
Naju city said it plans to maintain ongoing communication with restaurants on Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street, incorporate feedback from the field into future projects, and continue building a food culture and promotional presence centered on hongeo as the area's signature dish.
Through these efforts, the city aims not only to raise hygiene and service standards but also to develop the street into a competitive dining destination where residents and tourists can visit with confidence and ease.
"I hope everyone who visits Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street enjoys not only delicious hongeo but also the warmth and hospitality of the restaurants," Mayor Yun said. "We will consistently provide the on-site support restaurants need — creating a clean and hygienic dining environment and using Hongstar to make hongeo more familiar — so that Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street becomes a place where residents and tourists can come with peace of mind."
kkm9971@heraldcorp.com
