Seongil Farm Co., Ltd. (CEO Sang-Hoon Kang), an agricultural corporation, will hold the ‘7 Agri & Food Tech Start-up Expo’ held at COEX Hall A in Seoul for three days from Wednesday, July 26th to Friday, July 28th. They announced that they will participate in ‘Rising Expo 3’.
Seongil Farm is a company specializing in apple watermelon production and distribution, providing continuous support at all stages from seed selection and cultivation consulting to distribution agency. Additionally, we support the expansion of affiliated farms through a strong distribution network. Officials explain that efficient and stable production is realized through the company’s own large-scale production site and various facilities and equipment, and quality control and uniform marketability are guaranteed through a distribution system using non-destructive sorting machines. Through this, we are securing suppliers and expanding our national market share.
In addition, by introducing smart farm technology, we aim to achieve stable production and reduce labor dependence, and another feature is that production is possible 365 days a year through the Apple Watermelon Smart Farm. In this way, Seongil Farm also expressed its ambition to achieve continuous growth by expanding its export and distribution network and disseminating smart farm technology.
This exhibition introduces apple watermelons and cultivation solution systems. Apple watermelon is about six times smaller than regular watermelons, and is expected to be a breakthrough in the watermelon market, where demand is decreasing due to changes in family members and consumption patterns, such as the increase in one- and two-person households. In addition, Seongil Farm’s unique cultivation solution based on 6 years of national crop group cultivation data lowers the barrier to entry into apple watermelon farming for young farmers and prospective farmers across the country who wish to return to farming.
Seongil Farm’s apple watermelons are supplied to domestic large supermarkets and convenience stores, and are also sold online, including in major open markets. Overseas, from 2018 to 2021, an annual average of $20,000 was exported to Hong Kong.
Seongil Farm CEO Kang Sang-hoon said, “When I went on a training trip to Japan, I tasted the small watermelons sold on the street and decided that they would be competitive in Korea as well. “So, after several years of trial and error, we created an apple watermelon cultivation manual, formed a crop team, and built a solution system,” he explained.
He continued, “By introducing a smart farm using our company’s patented cucurbit vertical cultivation technology, we are realizing stable production of apple watermelons, which are sensitive to environmental factors such as the summer rainy season. “In addition, we plan to increase our market share in the domestic watermelon market with watermelons with high marketability,” he said. “In addition, we will brand Seongil Farm’s own mini watermelons and enter the domestic and overseas markets with premium apple watermelons from high-quality seeds.”
Meanwhile, at AFRO 2023, the largest Agtech & Foodtech event in Korea, domestic startups with global growth potential in Agtech, Foodtech, and Green Bio will exhibit products and services to solve various problems in the agriculture and food industries, Various programs such as conferences discussing the present and future of Agtech and Foodtech and investment briefings (IR competitions) are held. This exhibition is hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and supervised by the Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency, NH Nonghyup, COEX, and the Korea Food Tech Council.