Catch the 'Self-Medication' Tribe... Total Offensive by Food and Beverage Industry

Lotte Chilsung Collaborates with Microbial Research Firm Bifido to Develop Strain-Discovered Beverages
Functional Labeling Possible for Regular Foods as Well

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] Since COVID-19, the trend of taking care of one's health through self-medication has expanded the supplement market, including vitamins, into the food and beverage market. The food and beverage industry is putting all its efforts into directly researching and developing functional ingredients as well as launching general foods containing functional materials.

◆ Lotte Chilsung invests in microbiome= On the 12th, Lotte Chilsung Beverage announced that it acquired a 1.61% stake in the microbiome specialist company ‘Bifido’ to make a full-scale entry into the health functional food market. The acquisition amount is approximately 1.7 billion KRW. Microbiome is a research field that reveals the total genetic information of beneficial and harmful bacteria in the human body and their correlation with health and disease. Bifido is a microbial research and development company that is expanding its core competencies in bifidobacteria research and product development into functional strains, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Lotte Chilsung Beverage plans to discover healthcare functional strains and develop beverages together with Bifido.

◆ Development of Korean-type probiotics= Korea Yakult is focusing on developing ‘Korean-type probiotics.’ ‘Korean-type probiotics’ refer to probiotics extracted from the human body of Koreans or traditional foods. The ‘Lactobacillus complex’ is a plant-derived Korean-type probiotic isolated from kimchi collected nationwide by Korea Yakult’s central research institute, with a research period of 17 years and development costs reaching 3 billion KRW. Through screening from a library of over 4,500 strains, two strains most effective in reducing body fat were selected.

The ‘Lactobacillus complex’ has completed individual recognition by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its potential to help reduce body fat. Korea Yakult has signed contracts with diet supplement companies to supply this complex. Since 2011, Korea Yakult has also conducted functional research on probiotics related to skin. Last year, Korea Yakult entered the B2B (business-to-business) market.

◆ Functional labeling on foods= Orion is reorganizing its ‘Dr. You’ brand, based on a nutrition design concept, into a ‘functional labeled food brand’ containing functional ingredients this year. The company plans to expand the image from ‘snacks’ to ‘foods’ and strengthen the ‘nutrition design’ concept into ‘functional labeled foods.’

Dr. You recorded sales of 46.5 billion KRW, a 21% increase compared to the previous year, driven by the popularity of new lineups such as protein bars and Dr. You protein drinks last year. In particular, protein bars achieved sales of 19 billion KRW, stabilizing at an average monthly sales of around 1.5 billion KRW. The newly launched Dr. You drink in June last year also recorded sales of about 4 billion KRW, proving the potential of beverage products focused on nutritional components.

Since the end of last year, functional labeling has become possible for general foods with scientific evidence, and food companies have been releasing products applying this. Twenty-one products, including those from Pulmuone and Lotte Foods, have been newly launched in accordance with the ‘General Food Functional Labeling System.’ Orion plans to redefine the Dr. You brand identity at a higher level under the theme of ‘Delicious Health’ this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.