NET (CEO Kim Ye-seong) will hold the ‘7 Agri & Food Tech Start-up Rising Expo 26′ held at COEX Hall A in Seoul for three days from July 28 (Wed) to 3 (Fri). )’.
NET, a food startup that creates ‘drinking pleasure, delicious pleasure’, develops and sells ‘Valpotonic’, an effervescent tablet-type tonic water. NET is an abbreviation of ‘New Effervescent Tablet’ and contains the meaning of a new effervescent tablet.
Balponic, which will be introduced at this exhibition, is a new tonic water in the form of effervescent tablets, which can be enjoyed by putting one tablet in 150-200ml of water. With a light weight of 4.1g and a volume that is 80 times smaller than conventional tonic water, it is characterized by excellent convenience. Balponic, which can be consumed anytime and anywhere as long as there is water, has a two-year shelf life with low water activity.
A NET official said, “Valponic started with the question, ‘Does tonic water really need to be water?’ Tonic water is a carbonated beverage mixed with alcohol that has a unique sweet and bitter taste. Recently, public interest in delicious alcohol has increased, and Sotonic (shochu + tonic water) has become a type of drinking culture.” said.
In addition, “The demand for tonic water has increased by more than three times in the last three years, but it is inconvenient to purchase in bulk due to its heavy weight and large volume, and it is difficult to dispose of garbage because it is contained in a plastic bottle. In order to solve these inconveniences, we developed Balponic, which can be enjoyed by office workers and college students who frequent dinner parties, people who are burdened with the unique taste of alcohol, and everyone who likes tonic water.”
Balponic, which was first released through Wadiz funding in April 2022, achieved a funding rate of 4% and sales of 2 million won over a period of two weeks, and is currently sold on various online sites.
An official said, “Based on consumer feedback, we want to further develop Balponic and re-launch it as an attractive product. We plan to rebrand Balponic as ‘Pocketonic’ in the near future. In addition, while developing various flavors, we plan to release coin cocktails that can be put directly into alcoholic beverages and effervescent tablets that can be drunk like drinks,” he said.
Meanwhile, at AFRO 2023, the largest Agtech & Foodtech event in Korea, domestic startups with global growth potential in Agtech, Foodtech, and Green Bio will exhibit products and services to solve various problems in the agriculture and food industries, Various programs such as conferences discussing the present and future of Agtech and Foodtech and investment briefings (IR competitions) are held. This exhibition is hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and supervised by the Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency, NH Nonghyup, COEX, and the Korea Food Tech Council.