[Report] Korea FoodTech Industry Expo, the Only Future Food Technology Exhibition in Korea, Draws Attention

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] “Foodtech is a technology that goes beyond the conventional narrow definition to solve all problems related to eating from the perspective of consumers or individuals.”

The '2022 Korea Foodtech Industry Exhibition,' which opened on the 2nd at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was an opportunity to observe the growth trend of the domestic foodtech industry, the companies leading the trends at its center, and to predict future visions. This exhibition, jointly planned and organized by COEX, the Korea Foodtech Council, and the German Agricultural Society (DLG), will meet buyers and visitors for four days until the 5th.

The Korea Foodtech Council, which co-planned this event, is the only domestic industry-academia-research council related to foodtech, launched last September to enhance the value of foodtech companies and lead global foodtech businesses. Professor Lee Ki-won of Seoul National University, co-chairman of the council, stated, “The future domestic foodtech market size is estimated at 600 trillion won, and the global market size at 4 quadrillion won,” adding, “The foodtech industry will become Korea’s number one industry, surpassing IT (Information Technology) and BT (Biotechnology).”

Visitors are participating in a tasting event at Shinsegae Food's 'Better Meat' booth.

Companies emphasizing health and the environment stood out at this exhibition. At the Shinsegae Food booth, where a sandwich tasting event was held using the alternative meat product ‘Better Meat,’ visitors flocked. Alternative foods are one of the most notable fields within the foodtech industry recently, gaining attention as future foods with sustainability in health, safety, environmental protection, and animal welfare, expanding their position as alternatives that can complement the shortcomings of existing foods.

Min Jung-sik, Executive Director of R&D at Shinsegae Food, explained, “Better Meat targets general consumers with the concept of healthier meat made from plant-based ingredients rather than simply replacing meat. Since Korea’s alternative meat market is still in its early stages and consumers have limited experience, we plan to focus first on B2B business, increasing accessibility through dining-out menus using Better Meat, allowing consumers to naturally accept the advantages of alternative meat.”

Lotte Central Research Institute also participated with various eco-friendly packaging products used in group affiliates’ products. Representative examples include packaging materials applied to ‘Ghana Chocolate’ by reinserting cocoa by-products generated during the chocolate manufacturing process, and paper pouches with enhanced water resistance and special water-repellent coating applied to frozen ice products like ‘Seolleim.’

Materials developed using by-products aiming for resource circulation also attracted attention. Kim Jeong-gyun, Research Specialist at Lotte Central Research Institute, explained, “We focus on research that adds new value without waste, such as extracting fragrance from discarded citrus peels during juice production to reuse as natural flavoring in juice, and reprocessing yeast generated during barley fermentation to produce yeast tablet products.”

Specimens and Product Automatic Identification Device Equipped with AI Automatic Detection Sensor

The ‘Smart HACCP’ booth, which digitalizes the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system that analyzes and manages hazards at all stages from raw materials to manufacturing, processing, and distribution, also received much attention. The Korea Food Safety Management Certification Institute is expanding the smart HACCP system by developing smart sensors that can be distributed to small food factories at low cost with minimal changes to on-site facilities, for food safety management directly related to public health.

Lee Kyung-soo, Head of Infrastructure Support at Xcore System, the developer of Smart HACCP, said, “It is a system that digitalizes the management system previously managed manually in food manufacturing plants using Internet of Things (IoT) technology, automatically monitoring and managing critical data.” He added, “Companies that switch to Smart HACCP are expected to prevent food safety accidents caused by record omissions, errors, and human mistakes.”

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