BGF Retail, which operates the CU convenience store chain, said on the 7th that it signed an industry-academic cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) for joint product development and training of professional talent on the 5th in the multipurpose room of Korea Culinary Science High School in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.
Attendees at the signing included Lim Hyeong-geun, head of product at BGF Retail; Kim Bae-geun, head of the ready-to-eat foods team; and Park Hee-jin, head of the strategic MD team, as well as Son Min-ho, principal of Korea Culinary Science High School; Lee Yeon-geun, vice principal; Ko Seung-won, head of the lifelong education center; and Kim Hyeong-jin, head of culinary education.
The agreement was prepared to move beyond simply following trendy recipes or tweaking existing products by combining the fresh ideas of teenage students with convenience store product development know-how. With this agreement as a starting point, the two sides will cooperate in various areas, including joint product development linked to the school's "menu development cooking competition," commercialization of outstanding recipes, scholarship support, and the operation of field training and practical education.
In particular, CU plans to release the winning entry from Korea Culinary Science High School's signature on-campus event, the "menu development cooking competition," as an actual convenience store product. After selecting the winning entries at the on-campus competition for 12th-grade students in July this year, the products will be introduced at CU in September.
BGF Retail will also run scholarship support and field training programs. Selected students will gain hands-on experience with CU's ready-to-eat foods team through the product development process and build practical capabilities from recipe planning to commercialization.
Lim Hyeong-geun, head of product at BGF Retail, said, "This agreement is meaningful in that it connects students' creative ideas, which will lead the future food industry, to actual product development," and added, "Going forward, CU will continue to collaborate with various educational institutions and future talent to strengthen product development competitiveness and lead convenience store trends."
Meanwhile, BGF Retail has expanded external collaboration beyond product development. Early this year, it signed a business agreement with Sandoll, a content creator platform corporations, to pursue the development of CU-exclusive fonts, the launch of collaboration products, and the joint hosting of contests.