1. Evaluation system for 2005 brand rice sold in market

Brands recommened : 71 (Cities, provinces, associations)		Specimen collection and evaluation requested (National Council of Consumer Organizations) - Korea Federation of Housewives Clubs
◦ 700 million won or more sold in 2004; 500 to 700 million won to be sold in 2005 ◦ Quality evaluation results by agency or organization are reflected considering brand rice perception, price etc.		◦ Collected randomly in packing units at selling outlets ◦ Evaluation is requested to expert agencies after repacking with sample lot numbers randomly assigned on total four occasions each month
Quality Evaluation (National Farm Product Quality Control Institute)		Taste Evaluation (Korea Food Research Institute)
Appearance quality evaluation   - Measured items: 10   - Items of sensual appraisal: 4		◦ Sensual quality is objectively evaluated by expert panels.
Analysis of Species Mixture Ratio (National Institute of Crop Science)		Consumer Satisfaction (National Council of Consumer Organizations) - Green Consumer Network in Korea
◦ Evaluation of species mixed ratio by DNA analysis - Evaluation if markings reflect contents -Points are reduced based on mixed ratio of other species		◦ The taste, smell, appearance and overall preference are subjectively evaluated by general consumer panel (90 persons) trying steamed rice just like at home.

2. Analysis of Evaluation Results

1) ‘Asan Clear Rice’ of Chungnam was selected as this year’s top best brand rice, as it obtained 1,184.4 points (84.58%) out of 1,400 points possible. Regionally, the most of four Jeonnam brands were selected, three Jeonbuk brands and two brands from Gyeonggi and Chungbuk brands, and one Chungnam brand were selected.

2) Species-wise, the most of four Chujeong brands were selected, three Ilmi brands and two general brands and one brand each of New Chujeong, Sindongjin, and Hitomebore were selected. In particular, nine Korean brands were selected, to occupy 75% of all the species, as they were evaluated to be superior to foreign species.

3) Though the total brands to evaluate increased to 71, the evaluation points of quality and taste turned out to be higher than the preceding year. The total average points the superior brands obtained were 1,071.1 points, an increase by 35.2 points over 1,035.9 points obtained in 2004, indicating that the rice quality gradually improves through the brand rice evaluation.

-   Total average points of superior brands

Category	Average points of superior brands
	2003	2004	2005
Evaluation targets	51	61	71
Total points	763.8	1035.9	1071.1

- Average points of Quality and Taste Evaluation

Category	Total brand average			Average points of superior brands
	2003	2004	2005	2003	2004	2005
Quality	89.4	78.4	87.1	94.2	92.7	95.5
Taste	73.6	69.2	73.6	79.1	73.8	78.4

4) Five superior brands selected in 2003 (Anseong Machum Rice, Wanggeon Envied Rice, Haetsaldri, Saenggeo Jincheon Rice, and Cheongwon-gun Life Rice) were selected as superior brands again in 2005. One 2004 superior brand (Asan Clear Rice) was selected as superior brand rice in two consecutive years while one superior brand (Rice Fascinated at Sight) was selected in three consecutive years from 2003 to 2005.

Five brands (House where four seasons reside, Hwanggeum Byeori, Rice from place where migrating birds come back, Sangsan Yechan, and Rice Tonic) were newly selected. The newly picked brands are all from Honam area, indicating that the rice quality in this region has improved rapidly.

5) ‘Sindongjin’ ranked the highest in species mixture ratio, getting 791.9% in average purity evaluation. Foreign species were relatively lower in average purity.

8} The average price of all the 71 brands was 55,700 won per 20kg. The highest price among 12 selected brands was 79,600 won per 20kg, while the lowest was 50,000 won, indicating the prices vary greatly depending on quality and brand value.

3. Examples of Quality Control of Superior Brand Rice

1) Top best brand: Asan Clear Rice (Yeongin Nonghyup, Chungnam)

○ The cultivating farmers thoroughly control the cultivation conditions to improve quality, including planting an optimum number of rice plants per bundle, optimum time of harvesting, and reducing nitrogen fertilizers to 7kg/10a, with the provincial government support.

○ Quality rice cultivating methods are publicized to the farmers through incessant education under the leadership of Agriculture Technology Center of Asan City, rice is cultivated under contract in areas where farming water is not polluted, and the farmers’ participating spirit is encouraged by paying subsidies and by selecting them as the Top Rice producing area.

○ To secure the consumers’ confidence, realtime cultivation and processing scenes are relayed online using CCTV cameras at production sites and processing plants. Production history system is implemented (research conducted by Baejae University under the sponsorship of Agriculture Techno Park, Chungnam).

○ High quality rice purchase is induced by purchasing rice finely classified into 16 grades for quality control. Different quality rice is stored separately in low temperature (below 10℃ silo with advanced facilities throughout the year).

○ Only quality rice that pass the quality analysis using quality analyzer or white rice meter after polishing is delivered to the consumers. Consumer confidence is secured by polishing after orders are received and by implementing recall system thoroughly.

2) Superior brand: Home where four seasons reside (Baeksu Nonghyup, Jeonnam)

○ Cultivation zone is controlled in an environment-friendly manner by using low pesticide (using rice bran, chitosan and molasses, instead) in 100ha or no pesticide in 13a (using freshwater snails).

○ The farmers strive to enhance quality through thorough soil improvement with site guidance of combined work and a full-scale capital support (40,000,000 won by Farmers Coop for organic fertilizers, 12,000,000 won for chitosan, and 231,000,000 won by local autonomous government for environment-friendly materials).

○ To improve rice quality, saplings are transplanted in a given period, based on the regional climate conditions. Pesticide, if any, is sprayed up to two to three times with a Farmers Coop representative present at site, and no highly poisonous pesticides are used, under thorough control and supervision, to secure the consumers’ safety as well as the quality.  

○ Site training is provided to prevent damages to rice caused by combines used at the time of harvesting. The entire quality cultivated rice under contract are classified and stored in cooler-operated silos (3 x 300 tons), to maintain rice temperature at 5℃ and moisture at 16%, to preserve fresh rice taste.

○ To maintain rice quality at selling outlets, store inventories are replaced with new supply every 10 days during summer and every 20 days during cool seasons of spring, autumn and winter.

※LIST: 2005 Quality Test Result of Brand Rice Sold in the Market