[Report] "Healthier, Simpler, Safer"... A Glimpse into the Future of the Food Industry

"Even though I knew it wasn't meat, it tastes like meat? I'm not vegan, but I think it would be good to eat when dieting."

Booth view of Shinsegae Food's plant-based alternative food brand 'You Are What You Eat'.

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The '2023 COEX Food Week (18th Seoul International Food Industry Exhibition)' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was an event where one could glimpse the current trends and future of the domestic food industry. COEX Food Week is the largest comprehensive food exhibition in Korea, and this year it is being held under the theme ‘Food For Better Future: Future:食 (Sik) Table’ until the 25th. A total of 609 companies, including domestic and international food tech companies, agricultural food brands, and startups, participated in this exhibition.

At the event visited on the 23rd, the longest line was at Shinsegae Food’s ‘You Are What You Eat’ food truck. You Are What You Eat is a plant-based alternative food brand launched by Shinsegae Food last September, and at this exhibition, they showcased plant-based ready meals (PMR) such as ‘Lunch Kimchi Rice Bowl’ and ‘Bolognese Lasagna.’ A Shinsegae Food representative said, “We participated in the event to increase awareness of the You Are What You Eat brand among not only the core target of the food industry but also general consumers,” adding, “In addition to the three PMR products introduced this time, we plan to develop various plant-based menus into PMR products in the future.”

Choi Hee-jin (39), who was met at the venue, said, “I wasn’t particularly interested in alternative foods, so I thought of something like soy meat that I had tried before and tasted it, but I think I was completely mistaken,” and added, “I am preparing to start a restaurant, and developing menus using plant-based alternative ingredients would be helpful from a marketing perspective.”

Entrance view of the 18th Seoul International Food Industry Exhibition held at COEX, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

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Lotte Central Research Institute also participated to introduce various food tech applied across product development of Lotte Group’s food affiliates such as Lotte Wellfood, Lotte Chilsung Beverage, and Lotte GRS. A representative example is the comprehensive sensory analysis system based on AI deep learning. In the past, sensory evaluation for food development was conducted by researchers and consumer panels directly tasting prototypes and improving products accordingly.

However, by using the sensory analysis system, it is possible to find the optimal desired results through digital sensory evaluation even in emotional areas that are difficult to express with human senses and objective numbers. Kim Da-hye, team leader of Open Innovation & Connection at Lotte Central Research Institute, explained, “It is about developing the optimal taste through objective data rather than subjective sensory evaluation by people,” adding, “This can also be applied when searching for and developing various alternative ingredients or foods beyond sensory evaluation.”

Booth view of Pulmuone's food platform 'Chulchul Box'.

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Pulmuone also showcased its food platform ‘Chulchul Box’ at this event. In particular, the smart unmanned instant cooking vending machine ‘Chulchul Box Robot Chef’ attracted much attention from visitors. When ordering and paying for frozen state meal products, the robot immediately cooks and prepares the meal in about 90 seconds. Currently, the Robot Chef can cook a total of six menu items, including three noodle dishes such as Tonkotsu Ramen and Meat Jjamppong, and three soup dishes such as Yukgaejang and Chicken Gomtang. Hong Hee-myung, manager of Pulmuone U-Biz Business Team, said, “Starting next month, we plan to officially launch the business beginning with rest areas nationwide,” adding, “As the first smart cooking vending machine in Korea, it has the advantage of providing a warm meal conveniently, and we expect demand to increase mainly in unmanned restaurants that can operate 24/7.”

Additionally, as interest in food safety grows, the booth of the Food Safety Information Center under the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, promoting the Hazardous Food Sales Blocking System, also drew attention. The Hazardous Food Sales Blocking System quickly transmits barcode information of non-compliant foods detected through hygiene inspections and sampling tests to the checkout counters of distribution stores to block sales. Kwon So-young, senior researcher at the Food Safety Information Center, emphasized, “By introducing this system, hazardous foods that cannot be sold can be immediately identified at the checkout counters of installed stores,” adding, “This ensures consumer safety and also benefits companies by blocking hazardous food sales, thereby improving customer satisfaction.”

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