[News Today] ‘Loconomy’ trend in food industry

[LEAD]
Companies are tapping into 'loconomy', using local specialties like Jeju-do tangerines and Iksan sweet potatoes to boost sales and support farmers. But how much economic benefit does it really bring to the regions? We take a look.

[REPORT]
On a vast field, farming machines and farmers are busy at work.

The harvest of sweet potatoes began in Iksan, Jeollabuk-do Province, earlier this month.

Recently, demand is higher.

Seo Jeong-jung / sweet potato farmer
There is a lot of inquiries about deliveries beyond our capacity.

Behind the soaring popularity is a burger released last month.

The burger contains a croquette made with Iksan-grown sweet potatoes. Some 2.4 million units of the burger have sold in a month.

It is an example of the so-called 'loconomy' products, which refer to food items made with ingredients the company sources from local farmers.

Kim Ki-hyun / Goyang resident
It has a rich taste of sweet potatoes pairing well with cheese.

Over the past four years, the burger chain has developed burgers using local produce in collaboration with four cities and counties.

It has produced greater-than-expected effects for these regions.

There was an analysis done by a company specializing in measuring social values.

The social value created by the burgers amount to a total of 61.7 billion won or over 44.3 million U.S. dollars in the four regions.

This is 4.2 times more than the investment by the burger company.

The boost in the brand value of the regions, which was calculated based on social media responses, is estimated at 56.7 billion won or more than 40 million U.S. dollars.

Kim Nam-yeop / Changnyeong-gun County Office
With the name of the region directly included in the burger's name.

Changnyeong itself has been promoted nationwide.

But the company sells loconomy products for a limited period as a marketing strategy, only creating short-term effects for local farmers.

So the remaining task is to make their effects sustainable.