Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, is located in the southernmost part of Korea’s pear-producing regions. Thus, the flowers bloom the earliest and pears are shipped about 5 days earlier on average. Suncheon is the place in Korea where you can taste pears the first. Suncheon pears are exported abroad through Suncheon Association Cooperative (SAC) Co., Ltd., which especially focuses on exporting to export as it is designated as Taiwan Export Fruit Packing House. SAC is striving to expand the base of Korean pears by steadily exporting Suncheon pears to Southeast Asia such as Hong Kong and Vietnam.

# The pear tree is young
Suncheon Association Cooperative Co., Ltd. (SAC) was established in 2010 with the investment of Suncheon Agricultural Cooperative, etc. It ships pears, plums, sweet persimmons, kiwis, peaches, and cucumbers under its representative brand ‘Hanurine’ and selected as the best organization in the total evaluation of regional distribution hosted by the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation (aT), raising the status of Suncheon-si's agricultural products.
One of SCA’s main export agricultural products is pears. As a special product of Suncheon, it is also registered for a Korean geographical indication collective mark, earning recognition for its value as a representative agricultural product of Suncheon. Since Suncheon has a fertile soil and a huge daily temperature difference, its pears have a high sugar content and a crunchy texture. Above all, the age of pear trees is 20 to 30 years old, which is lower than that of major Korean pear-producing regions.

SAC’s section chief Min Dae-won said, “The pear trees in Suncheon are young, so they grow more actively than pear trees in other main producing areas which are more than 50 years old on average. As a result, our pears have firmer flesh and transparent color, so they are great for commercial sales.” SAC, which initially started as a farm with five people, has now increased to 22 members, dedicating itself to producing Suncheon pears. 

# Focus on Taiwanese export market
The annual export volume of pears of SAC is about 400~500 tons. 80% of pear exports are shipped to Taiwan, as SAC is designated as a fruit packing house exclusively for export to Taiwan which is the key importer of Korean pears. It is the second most common after the United States, which led SAC to knock on the door of Taiwan to export pears. SAC also exports its pears to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. By late August, it exported 24 tons of Shingo pears to these countries before exporting to Taiwan began in earnest this year. Local governments played a major role in helping SAC pear farmers become interested in pear exports. Suncheon City provided export promotion expenses to encourage the farmers to export, based on which the farmers raised their export pears to the highest quality as well as for Korean use. Section Chief Min thinks this was the important opportunity for Suncheon pears, which were relatively little known as the main producer of pears, to be well-known in Taiwan.
SAC also pays close attention to the safety of export pears. As another factor for it to actively pursue export, SAC received GAP facility certification, which proves it has met the criteria for the designation of excellent agricultural management facilities along with GAP farmhouse certification. In addition, SAC continues to educate to farmers to refrain from using gibberellin, a growth stimulant.

# Promoting Export with Global GAP
SAC aims to expand the amount it can handle from the current 1000 tons to 2000 tons by introducing another selector. It has also increased the export volume target to more than 800 tons and plans to promote a customized export strategy for each country, as Taiwan and Hong Kong prefer medium-size pears, Vietnam likes small-size pears, and Malaysia wants small packaging for supermarket sales. Thus, SAC plans to carry out different marketing since each country has different product preferences,
Furthermore, SAC plans to double the scope of global GAP next year as it has already received the global GAP for Kiwi, another fruit it exports. This is SAC’s aspiration to further enhance the safety of Suncheon pears and spread the name of Suncheon pears all over the world. Section Chief Min Dae-won said, “SAC exports Suncheon pears through a sorting facility that has received GAP certification and regularly performs pesticide residue testing, so our pears can be eaten with confidence abroad. We will work hard to expand our export areas to Taiwan and Southeast Asia so that various overseas consumers can taste Suncheon pears.”

Suncheon Association Cooperative
Email : mamin13@daum.net
Fax : +82-61-752-7771