Lured by fragrant fruits! Our fruit festival opens

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Minister Song Mee-ryeong, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) will host the “2024 Korea Fruit Industry Expo” for three days from Thursday, November 21 to Saturday, November 23 at the aT Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, hosted by the Korea Fruit Farmers’ Cooperatives Association.

The “Korea Fruit Industry Fair,” which has been held since 2011 and is now in its 14th year, is a representative event in the fruit industry that provides an opportunity for producers and consumers to directly interact, establish a sustainable consumption base for domestic fruit, and actively promote and respond to changes in the consumption and distribution environment.

This year’s event will feature a variety of experience, exhibition, and participation programs prepared to capture the joy of harvest that wraps up the year, with the slogan, “Be led by fragrant fruits! Round off a healthy daily life!”

The main program of the event is operated through theme exhibitions, promotion/sales, and experience, and the theme exhibition hall is composed of the representative fruit hall that exhibits the award-winning works of the representative fruit selection contest, the fruit functionality hall that introduces the functionality and efficacy of the seven major fruit varieties, and the new variety hall that introduces and promotes new varieties developed domestically.

At the promotion and sales hall, you can experience fresh and delicious domestic fruits such as representative fruits of each region, various new varieties developed domestically, and award-winning representative fruits through the tasting corner. In addition, a fruit market where you can purchase fruits at low prices will be operated during the event.

Additionally, the experience center offers a variety of programs that both general consumers and families with children can participate in, such as fruit tart making, fruit fishing, and stamp tours.

On the first day of the event, Thursday, November 21, the opening ceremony was held, where the winners of the ‘2024 Representative Fruit Selection Contest’ were awarded*, and a fruit and donation ceremony was held for underprivileged people.

• After evaluating the appearance, sugar content, acidity, hardness, etc. of the fruits, the representative fruits for each of the 11 types of fruits were selected and 14 fruits were awarded, including 1 grand prize (Prime Minister’s Award) and 13 excellence awards (Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Awards). On this day, Park Soo-jin, Director of the Food Policy Office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, “I would like to express my gratitude to the fruit farmers who have grown quality fruits even in conditions where the impact of abnormal weather is continuing to the point where climate change is being felt.” He added, “I hope that the ‘Korea Fruit Industry Fair’ will be a festival where you can confirm the public’s interest and affection for our fruits and where fruit farmers can feel the fruits of the year.”

Editor. Hong Se-yeong