Dongwon Home Food wins presidential award hanwoo at record auction price for 16th consecutive year

Gumcheon Meat, the livestock wholesale online platform of Dongwon Home Food, won the presidential award hanwoo at the 29th National Hanwoo Ability Evaluation Competition held Wednesday in Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, for 98.64 million won ($73,500).

This year's presidential award hanwoo was graded 1++A, with a live weight of 866 kilograms and a carcass weight of 548 kilograms. The transaction price came to 180,000 won per kilogram — more than eight times the average auction price of all hanwoo traded this year. Dongwon Home Food said the winning bid was the highest in the competition's history. The company has participated in the event since 2011 and has now won the presidential award hanwoo for 16 consecutive years.

Dongwon Home Food also won the hanwoo that took the North Chungcheong Agricultural Cooperative Wholesale Association Chairman's Award (10th place) for about 23 million won. That animal was also graded 1++A, with a live weight of 837 kilograms, a carcass weight of 529 kilograms, and a price of 43,199 won per kilogram. The hanwoo that received the Korea Animal Improvement Association Chairman's Award (12th place) was won for about 22 million won — graded 1++A, with a live weight of 889 kilograms, a carcass weight of 575 kilograms, and a price of 37,899 won per kilogram.

The National Hanwoo Ability Evaluation Competition is hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Korea Animal Improvement Association and the Korea Hanwoo Association. Held since 1993, the event aims to improve hanwoo breeds, raise productivity and increase farm household income. Judging covers intramuscular fat content (marbling), meat color and texture, as well as farming conditions, disease-prevention facilities and hazard analysis and critical control point management.

Dongwon Home Food plans to offer the presidential award hanwoo through its nationwide retail network, including Gumcheon Meat, butcher shops, restaurants and wholesale distributors. "As a total protein provider supplying comprehensive protein foods, we will deliver high-quality livestock products while leading the way in supporting hanwoo farming households," a company official said.

Meanwhile, Gumcheon Meat is an online platform that sells more than 1,000 livestock products — including hanwoo, Korean pork and imported beef — to a cumulative customer base of 210,000 butcher shops, restaurants and other buyers. Livestock specialists oversee the entire process from raw material procurement to processing, and the platform offers next-day refrigerated direct delivery nationwide. It has ranked first in the livestock wholesale platform category at both the Brand Customer Loyalty Award and the Brand of the Year Award, organized by the Korea Consumer Forum, for three consecutive years since 2024.