Health Craze... Food Industry Heats Up Competition in Protein Market

Maeil Dairies Selex Sales 50 Billion Won
Target 80 Billion This Year, Securing No.1
Ildong Foodis 'Hi-Mune' Hits Big, Returns to Profit
Product Segmentation, Focus on Middle-Aged and Seniors

Maeil Dairies Selex (left) and Ildong Foodis Hi-Mune.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The protein market is rapidly expanding amid the ‘home training’ craze. As even middle-aged and older adults begin to consume protein supplements as health foods, competition among food companies is heating up.

On the 26th, Maeil Dairies and Ildong Foodis faced off in the domestic protein supplement market. Maeil Dairies’ adult nutrition product ‘Selex’ recorded sales of 50 billion KRW last year, capturing half of the domestic market, while Ildong Foodis increased sales of ‘Hi-Mune’ to 40 billion KRW and returned to profitability after four years, closely trailing behind.

According to the food industry, the domestic protein supplement market size grew more than twice from 50 to 60 billion KRW in 2019 to last year, and is expected to expand to 300 billion KRW this year.

Maeil Dairies recently launched the Selex Mall. Moving beyond simply selling protein supplements, the company plans to provide consumers with systematic health-related services to maintain its market leadership. The sales target for this year is 80 billion KRW. Ildong Foodis also raised its sales target this year to 70 billion KRW, a 70% increase compared to last year.

Ildong Foodis plans to focus on the product competitiveness of ‘Hi-Mune.’ After recently developing and launching eight new health functional foods, the company will release additional new products next month. By segmenting products according to time, place, and target consumers, it aims to focus on the core consumer group of middle-aged and older adults.

High-protein foods are also flooding the market. Pulmuone recently launched the ‘High-Protein Tofu Bar’ domestically, which had proven its competitiveness by selling over 2.5 million units within four months after its release in the Japanese subsidiary.

Last month, Pulmuone declared itself a leading company in plant-based foods and is targeting the plant-based protein market. The ‘Tofu Noodle KIT’ launched last month recorded sales five times higher than expected during its test launch before the official release.

Dongwon F&B released ‘Richam Protein,’ a chicken breast ham product, considering complaints that chicken breast products, previously used as diet foods, were difficult to eat due to their dry texture and bland taste. It provides 30g of protein, equivalent to five eggs, and has lower fat content and calories than regular pork canned ham. The company also plans to launch the ‘Dongwon Tuna Protein Bar’ in the second half of this year.

A food industry official explained, "As interest in health increases, protein product consumption is rising among middle-aged and older adults, who previously showed relatively less interest, so the related market will continue to grow. Within the protein market, product types have become so diverse that competition among food companies is expected to intensify further."

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