'Zespri', the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit. To counter this, one place has taken off as a pioneer of Korean kiwi by steadily researching varieties and improving quality—it is Hallagold Farming Guild Corporation (HFGC), established in 2008. HFGC leads the advancement of kiwi industry by cultivating ‘Halla sweet gold’, a Korean kiwi variety. It exported kiwi for the first time in Korea and is recently promoting its own brand ‘Kiwirang’ to Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Sweet gold developed by the Rural Development Administration of Korea boasts high sugar content. When fully ripened, Halla Sweet Gold has an average sugar content of 18brix and is similar in size to the existing Hayward variety. Sweet gold has hairless outer skin with yellow-green, soft flesh, so it is edible even if it is not fully ripened. Shelf life is 4 months at 1°C. It has twice as Vitamin C as oranges and six times more vitamin E than apples.

# Steady Increase in Halla Sweet Gold Exports
The kiwi varieties that Hallagold Farming Guild Corporation export are Halla Sweet Gold, Green Kiwi, and Red Kiwi. Among them, Halla Sweet Gold has been well received by the market, so its export of only 10tons in 2020, jumped to 40tons in 2021. Last year, HFGC exported 150tons of kiwi, 80tons of green kiwi, and 30tons of red. Thanks to the positive market response, Halla Sweet Gold production is also on the rise. According to HFGC, its expected production this year is 700tons and is expected to reach 1000tons next year. Jeju’s sweet gold production is rapidly increasing every year, such as 2tons in 2016, 6tons in 2017, 50tons in 2018, 230tons in 2019, and 360tons in 2020.

Assistant Manager Lee Jong-seon of Hallagold Farming Guild Corporation said, “Halla Sweet Gold features a long cone shape and has an excellent sweet taste. This is why it is very popular in Southeast Asia and is especially loved by children. The biggest feature of Halla Sweet Gold is that it is grown only in Korea.”

# Quality Improvement through Cultivation Training and Selection
To produce high-quality kiwi, Hallagold Farming Guild Corporation strives to spread the cultivation and pre-harvest management methods. To improve quality, it trains 230 union members once every three months and encourages farmers to acquire GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) and global GAP certification. As a result, 70 farms have GAP certifications and 20 farms have global GAP certifications. HFGC also has a thorough kiwi selection process to determine whether the sugar content will meet the standard when fully ripened, since it distributes kiwi, a mature fruit, before ripening. To do this, HFGC measures the weight, sugar content, and hardness of kiwi in its raw state, then it cuts the cross section of the kiwi, dries it, and weighs it. This allows HFGC to predict the sugar content of ripe kiwis because the moisture inside the kiwi evaporates and the sweetness condenses through this process. Assistant Manager Lee said, “One strong point of Halla Sweet Gold is its sweet taste. Since we predict the sugar content in advance due to the nature of kiwi, we carry out a very strict selection process. If the weight does not exceed 70g, we boldly exclude it from the sales volume.”

# Expected to Penetrate the Premium Market
Hallagold Farming Guild Corporation is predicting the high possibility of expanding Halla Sweet Gold exports because there is a growing interest in Korean agricultural products in Southeast Asia. It also judges that Halla Sweet Gold is easier to export due to the storage period than that of red kiwi. While red kiwi is distributed from early October to November, Halla Sweet Gold can be purchased overseas from mid-November to up to February of the following year. To this end, HFGC holds annual promotional events for Hong Kong and Singapore and plans to make efforts to promote Halla Sweet Gold to other countries as well. Assistant Manager Lee said, “Thanks to our huge efforts for quality control, we have few complaints from import buyers. We can say with confidence that you will not regret it if you choose Halla Sweet Gold. We also think there is enough potential to target the premium market in Southeast Asia. We look forward to having many inquiries.”

Hallagold Farming Guild Corporation
Website: www.kiwirang.co.kr
Tel: +82-64-746-4841
Email: skyf01@naver.com