New fruit varieties with flavor and market appeal knock on the door of the wholesale market.

The Rural Development Administration promoted new fruit and fruit-vegetable varieties developed by agricultural research institutions across the country to wholesale market distributors, helping expand sales channels. On the 10th, the Rural Development Administration held a promotion for new varieties developed by agricultural research institutions in 2026 at the Garak-dong Agricultural and Marine Products Wholesale Market in Seoul, with around 100 distributors in attendance, including representatives of wholesale market corporations, auctioneers and middle wholesalers. This was the third such promotion, following events on the 4th at the Seobu Agricultural and Marine Products Wholesale Market in Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City and on the 5th at the Banyeo Agricultural Products Wholesale Market in Busan. The event featured presentations on around 40 varieties across seven categories of new fruit and fruit-vegetable crops developed by the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, the National Institute of Crop Science and provincial agricultural research and extension services, along with tastings of some of the varieties. In particular, Jang Seong-won, a research officer with the RDA’s Agricultural Management Innovation Division, who presented the new varieties that day, also shared findings from marketability assessments held at wholesale markets for individual varieties. According to Jang, Gloristar, a new grape variety that can be eaten with its skin and is known for its high sugar content of 19.9 Brix and excellent storage qualities, received positive reviews in the marketability assessment as “a variety capable of growing the market for red grapes.” He also said that Easyple, a new apple variety with an excellent balance of sugar content (16.7 Brix) and acidity (0.41%), “was judged to have such strong commercial appeal that it could replace Hongro.” The new sweet persimmon variety Bonghwang, which can be eaten both fresh and when fully soft-ripe, was recognized for its commercial appeal to the point that distributors’ evaluations led directly to sales. Among new pear varieties, Seolwon was well received by retail distributors for its excellent taste and texture, rather than by wholesalers, Jang noted. He added that Dalkomi, a new citrus variety with an orange aroma, and Hongbaek, a new white-fleshed peach variety that drew attention for its strong commercial appeal despite ripening in mid-July during the rainy season, stood out among citrus and peach varieties, respectively. Among strawberries, Vitaberry, whose refreshing taste lingers, attracted interest from distributors. The Rural Development Administration plans to continue promoting new varieties at wholesale markets and holding marketability assessments to help ensure that new fruit varieties developed by agricultural research institutions translate into actual consumer purchases.

The Rural Development Administration (RDA) supported efforts to expand sales channels by promoting new fruit and fruit-vegetable varieties developed by agricultural research institutions nationwide to wholesale market distributors. On the 10th, the RDA held a promotion of new varieties developed by agricultural research institutions in 2026 at the Garak-dong Agricultural and Fisheries Wholesale Market in Seoul, with around 100 distributors in attendance, including representatives of wholesale market corporations, auctioneers and middle wholesalers. The event was the third in the series, following events on the 4th at the Western Agricultural and Fisheries Wholesale Market in the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City and on the 5th at the Banyeo Agricultural Wholesale Market in Busan. It featured presentations on around 40 new varieties across seven fruit and fruit-vegetable categories developed by the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, the National Institute ...