Ottogi Co. has been producing various brand name products with a steady growth in partnerships with a number of local autonomous organizations through diverse cooperative relations with them.

Ottogi recently introduced a tomato spaghetti sauce made with tomatoes the company bought from Hwacheon County in Gangwon Province. Ottogi benefitted from using excellent quality tomatoes from the region and the region’s farmers were able to make a profit from the sale of their tomatoes, helping the local economy in a win-win situation for both Ottogi and the county.

The tomato growers in the county has been able to increase their incomes and the company has been able to secure fresh and excellent quality produce for use in its products, boosting its quality and the company’s image at the same time through its special tie up with the county.

“Ottogi Rice from Seeds,” is a good example of the product symbolizing the company’s partnership for co-prosperity with local autonomous organizations.

The rice, billed as one of the most fresh-tasting rice brands in Korea, was introduced for the first time in 2004 and the company has been refining the rice collected from various towns and rice farmers in local regions around the country at its plants in Umsong, North Chungcheong Province. Its sales last year amounted to 20 billion won.

Ottogi buys around 30,000 tons of rice from a number of rice-producing farm regions in the country such as Youngam, South Jeolla Province; Kochang, North Jeolla Province; Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province; Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province; Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, among other places.

The food maker plans to sign contracts with rice producing farm towns around the country and let them grow rice based on the contract terms, which is designed to improve the economic benefits for the rice producing regions, and at the same time Ottogi can boost its image by selling excellent quality rice, solidifying the mutually satisfactory relations. Ottogi plans to buy more domestic rice and farm produce for the benefit of both the company and local autonomous entities.

In the meantime, Ottogi has been looking at various ways to launch mutually beneficial businesses with the agricultural regions including setting up high schools to give better education and opportunities for careers for the graduates by working for the company’s production plants, which will solve manpower problems at those plants across the country and provide jobs.