Demand for Gyeongju’s famed Hwangnam bread has surged following final week’s Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) summit within the historic metropolis, prompting the model on Tuesday to warn in opposition to resellers inflating costs and distributors passing off imitations as the unique.
First made in 1939, the skinny, hand-pressed pastry stuffed with candy pink bean paste — named for an area neighborhood — is a signature specialty of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
Final week, President Lee Jae Myung offered freshly baked Hwangnam bread to Chinese language President Xi Jinping, with the message that he hoped Xi would “benefit from the style of Gyeongju.”
On the APEC summit, Xi advised Lee that he had loved the bread, in accordance with presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung.
Lee later despatched an extra 200 bins to the Chinese language delegation and instructed International Minister Cho Hyun to current Hwangnam bread to the opposite APEC member delegations as effectively.
Guests line as much as buy Hwangnam bread on the model’s retailer in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Saturday. Yonhap
The bread has rapidly seen a surge in demand, resulting in shortages and an increase in reselling and imitation merchandise.
“Just lately, we’ve seen Hwangnam bread being resold on-line at inflated costs and imitation merchandise circulated, resulting in shopper hurt,” the bakery mentioned in a discover posted on its web site Tuesday. “Please place orders solely via our official web site.”
Whereas the bakery’s telephone line has been troublesome to achieve attributable to excessive name quantity, wait instances at its Gyeongju flagship retailer have reportedly stretched as much as three hours, with orders greater than tripling.
The bakery is believed to have been chosen as an official present after present process a assessment course of by the Ministry of International Affairs forward of the APEC summit, in accordance with native stories.
“We defined to the ministry that though related merchandise exist, we’re the unique and use solely high-quality components,” an organization official was quoted as saying in Korean media.
