Q PLEASE INTRODUCE YOUR CORPORATION.

We found the time to review our products from various angles. The judges asked us profound questions about their distribution, competitiveness, and unique characteristics. Thanks to those questions and the advice they gave, we were able to organize our strategy more elaborately, improving the value of our products. We once thought that we should stay here because our products were developed in Chuncheon but also felt the responsibility to let more people know the value of these potato bread. With the grand prize, we gained the confidence to make our potato bread more competitive in global markets.

Q HOW DID YOU MAKE CHUNCHEON POTATO BREAD?

I came to the idea of commercializing various potatoes grown by my father. One day, he asked me something like, “How about baking bread just like a potato?” I was then introduced to an expert baker, Hong Sanggi, by my acquaintance, and we developed the recipe together. We shaped the bread like a potato and increased its contents to acquire a more potato-like taste. The ingredient we started with was rose valley potatoes, and then we gradually added dubaek (a Korean variety), cheonggang (super valley potato), and other varieties. The flavor becomes extra special when multiple varieties are mixed. We hope each variety’s best characteristics will properly reach our consumers.

Q IS THERE ANY REASON TO KEEP USING VARIOUS KINDS OF POTATOES?

It’s to protect the diversity of farm produce. I found that potatoes have their unique colors, from red to blue, and features by variety. If you go overseas, it’s easy to find various kinds of potatoes in markets, but you’ll mostly see white potatoes in Korea. Using only one variety might cause a competition of prices between local farmers or even the extinction of potatoes because of diseases or disasters. Variety is the primary measure of food sovereignty.

Q TO WHICH PROCESS DO YOU PAY THE MOST ATTENTION?

The local farm produce. We think buying them at reasonable prices and then baking the bread connect rural areas and cities. The food industry currently uses cheap potato powders from overseas, but it’s more delicious when we use fresh potatoes locally grown in Korea. To make them look like real potatoes just dug up from the earth, we bake the bread and then roll them onto the mixed powder of roasted black sesame and beans. Even the packaging boxes look similar to those for storing real potatoes. Most people loved to see that they resembled potatoes when eating them.

Q HOW DID YOU JOIN THE CONTEST?

We once counted the annual visitors to our Gamzabatt Cafe and found that around 10% of tourists in Chuncheon visited us. From that, we saw the chance to develop more creative bread out of local farm produce and change our terrace into one that looks like a farm, using experiential tourism to solve the problems rural areas are facing. That’s why we joined the contest—to grow together with our local areas.

Q HAVE YOU NOTICED ANY IMPROVEMENTS THROUGH THIS CONTEST?

Batt was initially established as a sole proprietorship in 2019 and officially founded in January of this year. Most people might have known us as a café that bakes potato bread. We founded an official corporation to reach our project goal: to create new value out of regional farm produce, like ice cream made from Yanggu’s apples and jelly made from Wonju’s peaches. We also plan to provide job opportunities to those who want to settle in this region and introduce distinct types of farm produce to the public, letting the world know what Batt pursues.

Q DO YOU HAVE ANY GOALS YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH YOUR CHUNCHEON POTATO BREAD?

We recently released nine new potato bread with the opening of our branch office, “The Batt,” at Lotte Time Villas, Uiwang-si. We are still working to develop new potato bread and other products out of local farm produce. We also hope that what we sell will become not only products but also new values. We want to become the team that solves the current farming problems with high-value products made out of domestic farm produce. Furthermore, we want to provide good farm produce with reasonable prices, grow as one of the most desirable companies to work for, and become the platform that connects rural areas and cities. No matter how much effort we exert and expenses we incur, we will try to discover how to vitalize the authentic taste of local farm produce. We will become a company with good influences on society through our bonds and growth.