Growing Silver Food Market, Companies Leading with Senior-Friendly Foods

Senior Meal Specialist Social Enterprise 'Saranggwa Seonhaeng'
Developed and Supplied Senior-Exclusive Senior Meal Menus, Achieved 10.7 Billion KRW Sales Last Year
Started Collecting Senior Data through Lunchbox Delivery Service 'Hyodocook'

As South Korea enters an aged society where the population aged 65 and over exceeds 14% of the total population, the senior meal market is expanding. In this context, the senior meal lunchbox franchise 'Hyodocook123' is gaining attention as a new senior-specialized company. The photo shows an employee at a Hyodocook directly managed store preparing and packing lunchboxes for same-day delivery. Photo by Heeyoon Kim

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] South Korea entered an aged society in 2017 when the population aged 65 and over exceeded 14% of the total population. The domestic silver food market, newly spotlighted due to the rapidly progressing population aging, has grown nearly threefold from 6.4 trillion KRW in 2017 to 17.6343 trillion KRW last year. Just as infants need baby food, elderly-friendly foods tailored to the physical condition of the elderly population have been a sector with relatively low growth compared to the speed of aging in Korean society. Foreseeing this market potential and focusing on elderly swallowing disorders and chewing difficulties, the company Sarangwa Seonhaeng recently proposed a new silver subscription economy model through delivery of elderly meals with its elderly meal lunchbox franchise ‘Hyodocook123.’

Sarangwa Seonhaeng challenged the silver food business based on its experience operating elderly care services since 2011. As the leading company in outsourced meal services for domestic nursing facilities, it previously established its own Elderly Food Research Institute and filed the only patent related to elderly diet services in Korea. Lee Kangmin, CEO of Sarangwa Seonhaeng, explained, “When we started elderly care services in 2008, we faced pressure ulcer issues and realized that for fundamental problem-solving, not only disinfection but also smooth protein supply through diet is essential for rapid treatment and recovery.” He added, “We then realized that a separate diet is needed for elderly people experiencing swallowing disorders, digestion, and chewing difficulties, and thus we fully entered the senior elderly-friendly food business.”

Lee Kang-min, CEO of Sarang and Seonhaeng, is preparing for the first listing as a senior social enterprise. CEO Lee stated, "We want to demonstrate a model case of a CSV (Creating Shared Value) company that prioritizes solving social problems over profit-making." Photo by Kim Hee-yoon

Introducing Japanese Elderly Food Technology, Proposing a Silver Subscription Economy Model through Lunchbox Delivery

Although the necessity of elderly food was strongly felt, there was almost no system domestically. Balanced meal composition was difficult with simple porridge alone. CEO Lee sought out elderly food companies in Japan, an advanced silver industry country, and eventually reached out by letter to the CEO of SLC, a Japanese company specializing in elderly lunchbox delivery. Japan, having entered an aged society early, has established standards for elderly food (kaigo shokuhin) including low salt, low protein, and cooking methods based on rice hardness according to swallowing ability, and is expanding the market through abundant manufacturing experience. CEO Lee explained the situation at the time: “The SLC CEO, who was in contact with major domestic food companies, said that senior business should be handled by social welfare experts and chose us instead of large corporations.” Since then, SLC has provided full support including technology transfer over three years and early-stage investment in Sarangwa Seonhaeng, which had no initial sales, helping it grow into a company distributing meals and ingredients to over 800 nursing homes nationwide. Last year, Sarangwa Seonhaeng recorded sales of 10.7 billion KRW.

In particular, the texture-modified foods applying rapid freezing technology received positive responses in the B2B market such as nursing and social welfare facilities. Based on this, Sarangwa Seonhaeng launched the elderly meal delivery service ‘Hyodocook’ and is collecting various senior data through delivery. The data accumulated through ‘community care,’ which delivers meals daily and checks safety for elderly living alone who usually have difficulty eating, will be integrated with IT services and utilized for various senior care services in the future. To this end, Sarangwa Seonhaeng revealed that it has been developing technology linking ICT, AI, and big data over the past few years.

Sarangwa Seonhaeng, as a senior social enterprise, is preparing for its first public listing. CEO Lee said, “We want to show a model case of a CSV (Creating Shared Value) company that leads social problem-solving rather than profit pursuit,” adding, “Our goal is to build senior data through the elderly food business, create a senior social venture ecosystem utilizing this data, and establish a social model.”