'Chef Kang Leo and the Discovery of the Next Tonshou'... Geumjeong District Promotes Local F&B Development Project

[Financial News] Geumjeong District, Busan, and Food Travel announced on the 7th that they are launching the '2026 Local F&B Brand Development Project' to discover hidden local restaurants and foster them into representative local F&B (food and beverage) brands in Busan.
The project involves collaborating with Food Travel, a company specializing in F&B content, to select and support two small businesses in the district with high growth potential. It provides step-by-step support ranging from expert mentoring and branding to content production, promotion, and market validation.
Through the project, the district aims to go beyond simply supporting small businesses by discovering competitive local restaurants and developing the region's flavors and stories into a single brand, ultimately helping it grow into a sustainable local brand.
The two finally selected businesses will receive on-site mentoring from Korea's leading chef, Chef Kang Leo. Chef Kang will personally visit the businesses to inspect their menus and operations and provide expert advice on menu development ideas and brand direction.
The process of transforming the menus and brands based on Chef Kang Leo's assessment will be produced as YouTube content by Food Travel and others and released online. The plan is to enhance the businesses' brand value by telling the story of beloved local restaurants growing into new brands through expert mentoring.
In particular, the selected businesses will also have the opportunity to open stores at 'Christmas Village Busan 2026,' held at the Busan Cinema Center at the end of the year and organized by Food Travel. This is Busan's representative large-scale F&B content event, where the businesses will meet citizens and tourists in person and showcase their new menus and brands.
Eligible applicants are small businesses in the F&B sector located in Geumjeong District that have been operating for no more than seven years and have annual sales of no more than 3 billion won. The two finally selected businesses will participate in the brand development program for approximately four months, from the 23rd through the end of the year.
Applications may be submitted from the 11th through the 20th. More information is available on the official website of the Geumjeong District Office.
[email protected] Byun Ok-hwan Reporter