Lotte Mart announced on the 8th that it will start discounting 'controlled atmosphere (CA) stored spinach (bunch)' and 'Smart Farm Tomorrow Farm lettuce (150g)', 'Smart Farm Tomorrow Farm perilla leaves (approximately 30 pieces),' from the 10th in order to alleviate supply instability of leafy vegetables due to the heatwave and provide customers with fresh vegetables at reasonable prices.
Lotte Mart stored a total of 6,400 bunches of spinach in its CA storage at the Lotte Fresh Quality Innovation Center through prior consultation with local farmers in Gyeongbuk in early June. The CA storage system is a technology that lowers the oxygen concentration and injects nitrogen to control the storage environment to maintain the freshness of agricultural products.
Typically, spinach sold in July is harvested from the Gyeonggi area, but Lotte Mart has utilized CA storage technology to make Namhae and Gyeongnam region spinach available in mid-July. The Namhae spinach being sold this time is characterized by its thick stems and sweet taste, according to Lotte Mart.
Additionally, Lotte Mart will introduce lettuce and perilla leaves cultivated in smart farms starting this year. Generally, leafy vegetables tend to wilt easily during the hot summer weather from July to September, but smart farm vegetables maintain consistent quality through a facility cultivation method that is less affected by climate conditions.
Lotte Mart's vegetable team MD (Merchandise Planner) visited smart farm farms in Buan, Jeollabuk-do and Geumsan, Chungcheongnam-do in January to secure additional quantities of lettuce and perilla leaves.
Kim Si-eun, Lotte Mart Super's vegetable team MD (Merchandise Planner), noted, "We are utilizing CA storage technology and securing vegetable quantities from smart farms to respond to supply instability caused by climate change and will strive to provide fresh vegetables at reasonable prices while minimizing the effects of abnormal weather."