Pulmuone Launches Domestic Alternative Meat Business with Korean-Style Plant-Based Grilled Bulgogi

Pulmuone 'Plant-Based Grilled Bulgogi Rice Bowl Sauce' 2 Types

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Pulmuone, which declared itself a leading company in plant-based oriented foods, is set to fully launch its domestic plant-based alternative meat business. The goal is to dominate the domestic alternative meat market by offering alternative meats tailored to Korean tastes, moving beyond patties and sausages.

'Meat That Is Not Meat' Tailored to Korean Tastes

On the 10th, Pulmuone Foods announced plans to lead the domestic alternative meat market with its new home meal replacement (HMR) product, ‘Plant-Based Charcoal-Grilled Bulgogi Rice Bowl Sauce,’ which features plant-based alternative meat in a sauce.

Since declaring itself a leading company in plant-based oriented foods, Pulmuone has been striving to increase consumer accessibility to plant-based foods. This new product was inspired by familiar Korean dishes ‘bulgogi’ and ‘rice bowl’ to allow domestic consumers, who are still unfamiliar with alternative meats, to easily try it in their daily lives.

The plant-based alternative meat used in the product is Pulmuone’s proprietary alternative meat, made by processing ‘Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)’ extracted from soybeans with Pulmuone’s technology to replicate the taste and texture similar to animal meat (conventional meat).

TVP extracted from soybeans retains a bean-like odor and has the unique tough texture of soybean meat. Therefore, processing technology is crucial to improve the material and complete a high-quality alternative meat. Pulmuone Technology Institute introduced a charcoal direct-grilling process through continuous R&D, enabling the launch of a new product that is even closer to real meat.

The two types of ‘Plant-Based Charcoal-Grilled Bulgogi Rice Bowl Sauce’ being launched this time are made from plant-based ingredients so that not only vegetarians but also those who want to flexibly try vegetarianism can enjoy them deliciously. They are convenient as they can be heated in a microwave and eaten immediately.

‘Plant-Based Charcoal-Grilled Bulgogi Soy Sauce Rice Bowl Sauce’ features plant-based alternative meat bulgogi with a smoky flavor, enhanced with brewed soy sauce infused with ginger, lemon, lime, and pineapple for a refreshing taste. The ‘Plant-Based Charcoal-Grilled Bulgogi Spicy Rice Bowl Sauce’ is reminiscent of spicy pork rice bowl. It is characterized by a generous amount of plant-based meat with a smoky flavor from the direct-grilling process. It captures the sweet and spicy taste favored by Koreans.

Rice bowl made with 'Plant-based Direct Flame Bulgogi Soy Sauce'

Dominating the Domestic Alternative Meat Market

Since declaring itself a leading company in plant-based oriented foods last March, Pulmuone has continuously introduced plant-based oriented products. Pulmuone, which gained positive responses with tofu-processed products such as ‘Tofu Tender’ and ‘Tofu Crumble Rice Bowl Sauce,’ plans to actively launch products that replicate the form, texture, and mouthfeel of meat. Unlike American companies focusing mainly on patties and sausages, Pulmuone plans to focus on developing alternative meat in the form of Korean-style beef bulgogi to target the global plant-based alternative meat market, including Korea.

Earlier, in the U.S., PulmuoneUSA, the local subsidiary, began full-scale sales of ‘Pulmuone-style alternative meat’ by placing plant-based alternative meat differentiated with charcoal barbecue flavor in all 200 stores of the American wellness restaurant chain ‘Waba Grill’ in the second half of this year. It also signed a partnership with the University of Massachusetts Dining, the largest school meal service in the U.S., supplying plant-based alternative meat to the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus.

Domestically, Pulmuone plans to diversify plant-based alternative meats by launching a new thin-type product resembling beef bulgogi in the first quarter of next year.

Kim Jeongha, CM of the PPM (Plant Protein Meat) Business Division at Pulmuone Foods, said, “While Pulmuone’s previously introduced plant-based alternative meats were mainly tofu-processed products, the new product ‘Plant-Based Charcoal-Grilled Bulgogi Rice Bowl Sauce’ replicates the form, texture, and mouthfeel of meat more closely, representing a more proactive approach to replacing meat. Starting with this, we plan to expand into higher-level ‘Korean-style alternative meat’ products.”

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