Yanggu County is nurturing rice consumption points to raise awareness of local grain brands.

(Yanggu=Yonhap News) Reporter Yang Ji-woong = On the 4th, Gangwon Yanggu County announced that it will actively push forward the Yanggu Rice Consumption Promotion and Brand Strengthening Project to establish a stable consumption base for Yanggu Rice, a representative local agricultural product, and to nurture it as a premium brand. This initiative moves away from the previous method of one-time support focused on large-scale consumers, and instead designates and manages catering businesses that use over 1 ton of Yanggu Rice annually as a main ingredient to establish a stable consumption base throughout the year. In particular, the project aims to simultaneously increase the reliability and recognition of Yanggu Rice through systematic brand management that goes beyond simple purchase support and is linked with certification and promotion. The county plans to designate 4 to 5 catering businesses and invest 20 million won to push forward the project with a total volume of 40 tons. Designated businesses will receive a purchase support of 10,000 won per 20 kg for various varieties of Yanggu Rice purchased from the Yanggu Premium House. The Yanggu Premium House will operate as the primary purchase point, but agricultural cooperatives and local rice processing businesses can also participate in the supply, thereby creating a mutually beneficial foundation with local distribution businesses. Additionally, considering the operational conditions of catering businesses, the project plans to implement a delivery supply system to establish a stable and convenient supply chain. The county will select the final target businesses within this month and begin full-scale support. Businesses with excellent annual usage records will be designated as "Yanggu Rice Certified Businesses" and awarded a certification mark, and will be intensively promoted as "Yanggu Rice gourmet restaurants" through various channels such as the county's official social networking service (SNS) and website. Furthermore, by linking with the county's pilot project for creating a special rice production and processing complex, the project aims to expand the consumption of various varieties of Yanggu Rice and establish a circular structure that connects production and consumption, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of the local rice industry. Gwon Eun-gyeong, Director of the Agricultural Technology Center, said, "This project goes beyond simple purchase support and aims to increase the value of Yanggu Rice together with catering businesses and to create a stable consumption base," and added, "Through continuous certification management and promotion, we will actively support Yanggu Rice to become a representative premium brand of the region."