A promotional poster for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' "bbangji sullye" (bread pilgrimage) campaign aiming to address a chronic oversupply of rice. Courtesy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
In Korea, the pursuit of the perfect pastry is treated less like a casual snack and more like a holy pilgrimage. Enthusiasts have even coined a term for it: "bbangji sullye," or "bread pilgrimage," a viral phenomenon where foodies travel across the country to document their bakery visits on social media.
Now, the Korean government is hoping to harness this culinary fervor to solve a serious agricultural crisis: a chronic oversupply of traditional rice and declining domestic grain self-sufficiency.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Wednesday launched its largest-scale bread pilgrimage campaign. Over the next four months, the government is partnering with 300 bakeries nationwide to introduce a wide array of new pastries made from "garu ssal" or powdered rice.
Powdered rice is a specialized grain variety developed by agricultural scientists to be milled easily into flour without the intensive soaking required by conventional rice. The ministry views the ingredient as a critical lifeline for balancing grain supply and demand. By substituting imported wheat with domestic rice flour, officials hope to stabilize plummeting rice prices and bolster the nation's food security.
