The ‘2023 Seoul International Food Industry Exhibition (SEOUL FOOD 2023, hereinafter referred to as Seoul Food 2023)’ was held at KINTEX in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do from Tuesday, the 30th of last month to Friday, June 6, hosted by KOTRA.
Seoul Food 41, which celebrated its 2023st anniversary this year, is Korea’s largest and Asia’s largest food exhibition to promote exchanges and strengthen cooperation between domestic and foreign food-related companies, providing an optimized marketing venue for participating companies aiming to enter overseas markets. .
Seoul Food 2023 reflects the pandemic era following the COVID-19 incident and reflects a table culture where home-cooked meals and eating out culture coexist, and various organizations and companies participated. Among them, the sauce industry, which developed with the ‘Mukbang’ and ‘K-food’ crazes and enhances the taste of food, attracted attention. According to the ‘Sauce Segment Market Status Report’ (published by Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation (aT)), domestic sauce production in 2020 was KRW 2 trillion, an increase of 296% compared to KRW 1 trillion the previous year. As demand for home-cooked meals increases after COVID-8,917, the size of the sauce market is showing growth.
At this exhibition, AVING News visited the booth of the Korea Food Industry Cluster Promotion Agency’s Source Industrialization Center, which provides one-stop support services from raw material development to commercialization through interconnection with the agricultural industry, and met with Kim Jong-chan, assistant manager, and conducted an interview.
Q. AVING News: What kind of place is the Korea Food Industry Cluster Promotion Agency’s Sauce Industrialization Center?
A. Assistant Manager Kim Jong-chan: The Korea Food Industry Cluster Promotion Agency (Chairman Kim Young-jae) was established in Iksan-si, Jeollabuk-do in November 2014 to promote and manage the national food cluster and support the activities of participating companies and institutions.
The main roles being carried out include △ policy development and research on the national food cluster and food industry clustering △ projects on the creation and management of food specialized industrial complexes △ support projects for companies and institutions participating in the national food cluster △ national food cluster There are projects to promote interconnection activities between participating companies and institutions, research, external cooperation, and promotional projects to revitalize the national food cluster, and other projects entrusted by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The Sauce Industrialization Center under the Promotion Agency was established to support the development and commercialization of new products in connection with sauce-related R&D projects and to share consulting, seminars, and market information. By supporting sauce industrialization, we are seeking to pioneer a path to the agricultural and food industry, and are helping small and medium-sized food companies to △ support corporate difficulties △ function as an R&D hub △ create a business-friendly environment △ and establish a sauce production base.
Q. AVING News: What prompted you to participate in the ‘2023 Seoul International Food Industry Exhibition’ and what were the promotional points?
A. Assistant Manager Kim Jong-chan: The tasks of the Source Industrialization Center include △commercialization, △R&D networking, and △information provision. Among them, we participated in this exhibition to mainly promote the ‘commercialization’ of small and medium-sized food companies.
The center assists small and medium-sized food companies in consignment development and processing with its professional manpower and infrastructure. Through consignment development, it creates sauces that meet the needs of food companies, and companies can process and produce sauces using the center’s machines and equipment.
This means that food companies are developing ingredients using domestic raw materials for the sauce they want, and are seeking to develop mixing ratios, packaging, and products.
Q. AVING News: To date, we have commissioned and developed sources for various companies. Are there any memorable companies?
A. Assistant Manager Kim Jong-chan: It is a product called ‘One-Bite Chicken Breast’ made by a company called Hunit (CEO Park Jeong-hyun). In line with the modern food trend of the growing alternative meat industry, this product is also manufactured with soybean meat with the texture of chicken breast. In order to avoid animal ingredients such as flavor and oil in alternative meat products made from plant-based ingredients, the sauce was manufactured and mixed only with plant-based ingredients to complete the product.
We also developed and manufactured a sauce used to marinate meat with Nonsan Gyeryong Livestock Cooperative (Chairman Jeong Chang-young). When it was introduced to the market, it showed high sales performance, exceeding 3 to 4 times the expected sales.
Q. AVING News: If sauce development and manufacturing is entrusted to a food small and medium-sized enterprise, what is the difference between the Sauce Industrialization Center’s OEM and ODM factories?
A. Assistant Manager Kim Jong-chan: In general, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) production is carried out using the ‘original equipment manufacturing method’, and when a company requests a factory to manufacture a product, it is sold with the company’s brand on it. In addition, ODM (Original Design Manufacturing) production is ‘manufacturer development production’, and when an order is received from a company, the product is developed and produced under the leadership of the factory.
The center will carry out the process from manufacturing to distribution, where the needs of small and medium-sized food companies are commercialized. In particular, it is equipped with a small-scale production facility for a variety of products, so it is possible to manufacture in the customized quantity desired by the company. Thanks to this, the advantage of low production cost can be obtained.
Q. AVING News: Please introduce the growth support curriculum for tenant companies.
A. Assistant Manager Kim Jong-chan: Currently, ‘professional manpower training’ is provided free of charge so that companies can learn food-related expertise. In addition, the ‘Youth Food Entrepreneurship Center’, which is scheduled to be completed in the future, plans to provide shared kitchens and dormitories for professional training to prospective food entrepreneurs.
Q. AVING News: The center entrusts everything from source development to production to companies, so it is expected to take a significant amount of support time. I wonder what the actual period is.
A. Assistant Manager Kim Jong-chan: The period varies depending on the company’s needs. If you require simple prototype production, it can be produced in one day. If recipe development is requested, it may take from 2 to up to 4 months, and if a special sauce is manufactured through joint technology development with the center, a company may be selected and signed through an evaluation conducted by the center and the business may be operated for more than a year. The center strives to help companies grow as quickly as possible.
Accordingly, applications for equipment utilization projects for developing consignment recipes can be applied to the center at any time, and applications for projects with the center through selection evaluation are recruited at the beginning of the year. For example, the gluten-free and vegan sauce is a product developed through a project with the center. In order to fulfill this task, the center supports the entire commercialization process, including product development, participation in packaging design, exhibition support, and pamphlet production, and provides expert advice and help utilize the center’s professional production equipment.
Q. Aving News: The range of foods that can be called ‘sauce’ is very diverse, from syrup in drinks to seasoning in food. Which companies can apply?
A. Assistant Manager Kim Jong-chan: In terms of traditional Korean foods, we mainly deal with sauces and liquid seasonings. Looking at the products manufactured by the center, there are ‘Red Pepper Paste with Moru’ from Cooperative Daeum, which uses Sejong City’s specialty wild wild grapes, and ‘Bokbunja Salad Balsamic’ from Jinnong Foods, which contains bokbunja from Gochang.
Any company related to seasoning sauces that can be used in food can apply, and the center plays a role in promoting the restaurant industry as a public institution for food manufacturers. In addition, we are pursuing the development of the green bio industry and will begin development by actively utilizing local agricultural products.
Q. AVING News: I am curious about the future plans of the Source Industrialization Center.
A. Assistant Manager Kim Jong-chan: We plan to further expand the projects we have carried out so far and encourage the growth of various small and medium-sized food businesses. Among the projects pursued by the center, the green bio industry is viewed as a promising industry and plans to increase support business capabilities along with the development of the industry.
In addition, we will do our best to develop sauces by combining various ingredients with various traditional foods in our country so that they can become more global. Accordingly, we plan to discover companies that develop products using domestic agricultural products. I will gladly take on the role of a stepping stone for a company to grow and a stepping stone for a source that expands into the world.
Meanwhile, the ‘2023 Seoul International Food Industry Fair’ hosted by KOTRA will strengthen exchanges and cooperation between domestic and foreign food industry-related companies, as well as a conference to discuss domestic and international food trends and insights, and various programs to expand business networks. done. A variety of companies and contents were introduced, including domestic and foreign food-related companies, as well as food equipment, food packaging, and safety equipment-related companies related to food safety, as well as hotels and restaurants.
→ Go to the 2023 Seoul International Food Industry Fair news special page