Barista and Confectionery Department students operate an experience booth, receiving enthusiastic responses from citizens and tourists.

Gangwon State University (President Choi Jong-gyun) Anchor Business Group (Director Choi Geun-pyo) participated in the 2nd Gangneung Bread Festival, "Bread-Baking Village Ojuk," held for three days from Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11 at the Gangneung Ojuk Hanok Village area, operating an experience booth titled "A Sweet Slice, Making Mandiant Chocolate" and offering special dessert experiences to citizens and tourists.

The experience booth was primarily operated by the Anchor Business Group and students from the Barista and Confectionery Department. Festival-goers added to the joy of the festival by directly making Mandiant chocolates—a traditional French dessert—by placing various ingredients such as almonds, pistachios, and dried fruits on top of chocolate.

In particular, family visitors and tourists flocked to the booth, adding vibrancy to the event. The students guided participants and supported the chocolate-making process, utilizing the skills they learned in their major in the field and gaining practical experience and confidence through communication with visitors. This event was meaningful in that it shared the students' major competencies with the local community while providing festival visitors with unique entertainment.

During the festival, the university's Anchor Business Group also promoted the chocolate specialist course under the "2026 Regional Industry Leading Professional Talent Training Program." This course is jointly operated with the Gangneung Campus of Kangwon National University. Through practice-centered education linking local specialties and the dessert industry, the program plans to cultivate professional manpower in related fields and expand the development of tourism content and startup foundations utilizing local food culture resources.

Director of the Anchor Business Group Choi Geun-pyo stated, "It was meaningful that citizens and tourists had a great time making chocolates themselves at the Gangneung Bread Festival, and that the students could showcase the skills they learned. Moving forward, we will continue to collaborate with local businesses to present diverse experience programs at local festivals and strive to cultivate practical professional talent connected to local industries."

President Choi Jong-gyun noted, "Local festivals are precious opportunities for the university and the local community to meet and share each other's achievements and values. We will continue to strengthen the role of the university in co-prosperity with the region through programs where students can develop their capabilities and local residents and tourists can enjoy together."

Meanwhile, the university's Anchor Business Group is promoting lifelong vocational education linked with the local community and industries, as well as customized talent training programs for local industries, through the Gangwon Yeongdong Northern Region Regional Settlement-type Talent Training System Project. Based on this, the group is striving to build a virtuous cycle system where regional specialized industry competitiveness is strengthened, and education, employment, and entrepreneurship lead to settlement within the region.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]