Hongcheon-gun, the largest county by area in South Korea, stretches nearly the full width of Gangwon Province from east to west — and its vast, clean landscape yields an abundance of local specialty products.
The county has partnered with the Gangwon Province Agricultural Research and Extension Services, the Korea Expressway Corporation's Gangwon branch and the Hongcheon rest stop to run a pop-up store featuring premium processed agricultural and specialty products at the Hongcheon rest stop on the Seoul-Yangyang Expressway, in the direction of Yangyang. The event offers a rare opportunity to pick up a curated selection of the finest goods the sprawling county has to offer.
The pop-up opened Thursday at 7:30 a.m. and will run through Saturday at 6 p.m.
Four of Hongcheon's leading agricultural processing companies are taking part, showcasing a diverse range of products, the county said.
Featured items include four varieties of chocolate and cacao tea from Shopbong Chocolate, made with apples, corn, kabocha squash and black soybeans; large red peach cream rice cakes and mochi from Honghongi; 16 types of steeped tea from T&Life; and omija syrup, konjac jelly, vinegar and sweet bean jelly from Dal's Farm.
Hongcheon-gun plans to leverage the highway rest stop's high-traffic location — built on cooperation with partner agencies — to raise the brand profile of local agricultural and specialty products, while helping processed-goods producers open direct retail channels and increase their income. The county also expects the event to boost visitor satisfaction by offering high-quality local products and contribute to the vitalization of the regional economy.
Yun Seon-hwa, director of the Hongcheon-gun Agricultural Technology Center, said the collaboration with partner agencies had made it possible to showcase Hongcheon's clean-farmed produce and signature handcrafted products all in one place. "We want visitors to taste what Hongcheon has to offer, and we want this to serve as a real springboard for farmers to expand their sales channels," she said.
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