[Opinion] Food Tech Industry and Jobs

As the 4th Industrial Revolution gains momentum, one of the new industries emerging from the convergence of essential human life domains and technology is the FoodTech industry. FoodTech is a new industry that combines Food and Technology. Recently, it has come to encompass all areas related to agriculture and the food industry, including hardware and software for the production and supply of agricultural products, food manufacturing and management, as well as food and restaurant search, ordering, delivery, and consumption.

Recently, a domestic financial institution's announcement of a 300 billion KRW investment in the U.S. alternative meat venture company Impossible Foods has attracted attention. The reason FoodTech is gaining focus is that it is the field closest to human life and offers significant investment value in the massive global food market.

The global FoodTech market, estimated to be worth about 20 trillion KRW, is regarded as a highly promising and sustainable industry sector. The alternative food market, a representative sector of FoodTech, was projected to grow from $9.6231 billion in 2018 to $17.8586 billion by 2025. Additionally, the '3D food printing' market, used in processed food manufacturing, space food, and senior-friendly food production, was estimated to grow about tenfold from $52.2 million in 2017 to $525.6 million in 2023.

The food-related industry has traditionally been difficult to equalize prices and has been determined more by care and taste than technology due to issues like freshness maintenance and shelf life, resulting in relatively slow technology adoption compared to other industries. However, revolutionary changes are underway by applying robotics, artificial intelligence, and big data processing technologies to food production and real-life delivery. Furthermore, structural and cultural characteristics of modern society, such as the increase in single-person households, dilution of gender roles within families due to women's social advancement, and the rise of the YOLO generation that values current satisfaction and convenience, are gradually expanding the FoodTech market. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the FoodTech paradigm, which was previously focused on dining out, into a 'massive industry.'

Starting with delivery apps, the domestic FoodTech industry is expanding its scope to smart farms, food robots, and AI systems, creating new jobs. The Korea FoodTech Association expects about 300,000 new jobs to be created over the next decade.

However, despite these job creation effects, the development of the domestic FoodTech industry remains sluggish. This is because it is concentrated on the smile curve with relatively low added value. The value chain of the domestic food industry is focused more on food processing and delivery rather than ingredient development and production, leaving the overall industry behind compared to the U.S. and Japan, which concentrate on ingredient development and production.

To catch up, it is essential first to expand government research and development (R&D) investment and support corporate R&D activities for the development of core technologies and materials. This will help improve insufficient R&D capabilities and support the quantitative expansion of startups.

Secondly, regulatory reform and tax incentives are also necessary. According to a survey of startups in the FoodTech sector, the biggest challenge is excessive regulation. It is urgent to revise standards and regulations related to new foods. Regulatory easing is needed for labeling of new foods containing anticipated allergenic ingredients, as well as resolving jurisdictional issues such as assigning export-import tariff numbers and aligning statistical classifications and supervision for new foods. Difficult regulations must be simplified.

Tax support for FoodTech investment is also essential. The development of alternative foods replacing meat is a global trend. It is hoped that domestic FoodTech companies, which have a competitive edge based on IT technology, will lead the global FoodTech market. / Kim Kyunghwan, Dean of the Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship, Sungkyunkwan University

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