CJ Logistics, Nonghyup sign MOU to boost rural communities

CJ Logistics signed an MOU with the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, known as Nonghyup, to expand rural community partnerships and leverage logistics expertise for mutual cooperation, the company announced Friday. The two organizations also conducted volunteer work at a local farm as part of the initiative.

The signing ceremony took place Thursday at the Baekseok Nonghyup office in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, with CJ Logistics CEO Shin Young-su and Nonghyup Executive Vice President Park Seo-hong in attendance. Under the agreement, the two organizations will jointly carry out employee volunteer programs, promote consumption of domestic agricultural products, and pursue cooperation using CJ Logistics' distribution infrastructure and expertise.

More than 50 executives and employees from both organizations visited a nearby peach farm struggling with labor shortages, helping to bag individual peaches — a task that protects the fruit from heat damage and pests.

As part of a "value consumption" drive to promote domestic agricultural products, CJ Logistics also purchased 100 kilograms of oyster mushrooms grown in Yangju and donated them to the Seoul Senior Welfare Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

"It was a meaningful occasion where employees from both organizations pitched in to help farmers who needed extra hands," CJ Logistics CEO Shin said. "We hope to drive innovation in agricultural distribution by leveraging our nationwide logistics infrastructure and help spread awareness of the value of farming."

Meanwhile, CJ Logistics has been supporting rural development through its seven-days-a-week delivery service O-NE, launched last year. In O-NE's first year of operation, deliveries of regional specialty products grew 138 percent compared to the start of the year.