Emart said on the 14th that it will be the first big-box retailer to introduce 10 new cuts of Australian organic beef and will run a discount event through the 17th to mark the launch.
Among the new products, flower short rib (200g) and tenderloin (200g) are priced at 19,800 won, but if you buy two packs you get a 3,000-won discount, bringing the price to 16,800 won. Major cuts such as top blade (300g), chuck flap tail (200g), fore shank (300g), and chuck eye roll (300g) are normally 15,800 won and can be purchased for 12,800 won under the same conditions.
For tenderloin, a representative cut of Australian beef, regular products are priced at 7,980 won per 100g, while the price for this organic tenderloin promotion is set at 8,400 won per 100g.
Until now, the organic beef market has been structured around importing small volumes by air, so distribution has mainly centered on online channels. As a result, it has not been easy to buy in offline stores, and big-box retailers have effectively classified it as a difficult item to carry.
The reason organic beef offerings were limited at big-box retailers was that it was difficult to secure volumes large enough for chainwide sales, on top of the higher price burden compared with regular beef. The limited number of domestic organic-certified processing plants also proved to be a hurdle.
To overcome these limits, Emart worked with the importer "Hanjung Food" and Australian producer "Teys Australia" to secure large volumes sufficient for chainwide supply. It said this has made it possible to sell organic beef on a regular basis at a big-box retailer for the first time.
For this event, Emart prepared about 30 tons (t), equivalent to the amount of Australian beef sold over about four weeks. By securing large volumes, it cut logistics costs and linked that to price reductions.
The organic beef was raised on Australia's vast pastures through free-range grazing and fed only non-GMO grass. No antibiotics or hormone injections were used, and it has organic certification from the United States, Australia, and Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Lee Ji-su, Emart's meat buyer, said, "Through large-scale planning and collaboration with key partners, we are the first big-box retailer to offer organic beef with both product quality and price competitiveness," and added, "We expect customers who hesitated because of price will be able to choose without burden."