[Food Tech Acceleration] Personalized Food, the Final Destination of the Food Tech Industry

Food Companies Analyze Consumer Types and Data to Launch Personalized Products
Global Customized Nutrition Food Market Expected to Reach 4.8 Trillion KRW by 2030
Active Launch of Care Food Products for Specific Patients
Expansion Expected into Medifood for Treatment through Food in the Future

A nutritionist from Hyundai Green Food is providing one-on-one nutrition counseling services to customers using group meal services.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The ultimate destination of the food tech industry, which is expanding its territory in all directions, is considered to be personalized food. As the consumption perspective centered on 'me,' such as the 'Miconomy' (me+economy) referring to self-centered consumption, and the trend of personalization spread, combined with technological advances, a strong personalization craze is emerging in the food industry, where individuals choose 'meals just for me' and 'health functional foods just for me' by considering individual life cycles, preferences, and health conditions.

By combining artificial intelligence (AI) and big data in the food industry, the sector can now develop food ingredients or personalized meal kits and health functional foods using individual health and preference data, and recommend personalized foods. Food data by consumer enables ultra-segmentation processes by utilizing simple identification information such as gender, region, and occupation, as well as data on preferences and behavior analysis. Through mass personalization, products tailored to individual tastes and needs can be mass-produced, lowering production costs while providing personalized experiences.

As food companies analyze various consumer types and data to manufacture, recommend, and sell products that individuals can choose according to their needs, consumers can select finely segmented ready-made products or choose optimized foods and health functional foods for themselves through survey responses. As personalized food services begin to permeate daily life, the global personalized nutrition food market, which was about $900 million (approximately 1.23 trillion KRW) last year, is expected to grow nearly 300% to $3.5 billion (approximately 4.8 trillion KRW) by 2030.

Especially as society ages, the trend of integrating health management into food is strengthening. In the future, personalized food is expected to be used as an algorithm where doctors, pharmacists, and nutritionists can recommend necessary nutrients to patients, and personalized diets will eventually expand into medifood, which treats diseases through food.

Before expanding into medifood, personalized food is currently being launched in the market as special-purpose foods for patients with specific diseases, consumers requiring dietary control, and the elderly needing soft diets. Special-purpose foods, also called care foods, must meet different demands for each consumer and maintain the taste of existing foods without causing rejection during meals, requiring advanced production and manufacturing processes. In Korea, various companies such as Hyundai Green Food (Greeting), hy (It's On Care On), and Pulmuone (Design Meal) are actively leading the market.

hy's care food brand 'It's On Care On' joint care product.