[Report] From Materials Driving the Zero Waste Trend to Eco-Friendly Packaging All in One Place

Seoul International Food Industry Exhibition 2023
Participation of 1,316 Companies from 39 Countries

"Recently, zero-calorie beverages have been gaining popularity, and a representative example is the main ingredient of Chilsung Cider Zero, which is allulose."

Booth view of Samyang at the '2023 Seoul International Food Industry Exhibition'.

The largest domestic food industry exhibition, "Seoul International Food Industry Exhibition 2023 (Seoul Food)," which opened on the 30th at KINTEX in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, was an opportunity to explore the latest technologies leading the food industry and to check current trends. This exhibition, held over four days until the 2nd of next month, features 1,316 companies from 39 countries worldwide, meeting buyers and visitors.

The first thing that caught the eye was the food ingredient at the center of the recent zero-calorie trend sweeping the food and beverage industry. Samyang Corporation, which introduced the alternative sweetener allulose, was not only showcasing the ingredient but also offering customized low-sugar solutions tailored to customer needs by utilizing high-intensity sweeteners and sugar alcohols that can create synergy with allulose.

Lee Young-ho, Deputy Manager of the Food BU Material Marketing Team at Samyang Corporation, explained, "Samyang is the only allulose manufacturer in Korea," adding, "We participated in this exhibition to showcase allulose, the hottest ingredient recently, as well as prebiotic materials." Allulose is a sweet component found in figs and grapes that provides sweetness similar to sugar but with virtually zero calories, making it an alternative sweetener.

In addition to allulose, Samyang is actively promoting prebiotics such as indigestible maltodextrin and fructooligosaccharide powder, which are used as health functional ingredients, at this exhibition. Both items are widely applied not only in health functional foods but also across the food industry, including fermented milk, beverages, confectionery, and sauces.

Booth view of SPC Pack participating in the '2023 Seoul International Food Industry Exhibition'.

The eco-friendly trend, which has become a constant across all industries including the food industry, was also evident. SPC Pack, a company engaged in food packaging, introduced new packaging materials applying green technology. SPC Pack developed film packaging using PIR, residual synthetic resin inevitably discarded during the packaging production process, and obtained the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification for recycling.

Jang Hyun-joo, Team Leader of the SPC Pack Research Institute, said, "The packaging material is made using eco-friendly ink without harmful chemicals, addressing environmental issues such as reducing air pollution and carbon emissions while ensuring food safety. Currently, about 54% of total sales are generated outside the SPC Group, recognized for technology and quality."

Many equipment companies related to food hygiene also participated. Nongshim Engineering showcased food X-ray inspection equipment, vision inspection systems, and complex inspection equipment for agricultural food raw materials. These enable inspection of foreign substances from raw materials before processing to finished products by detecting differences in density, color, and chemical components. Kim Dae-sik, Team Leader of the Inspection Equipment Team at Nongshim Engineering, emphasized, "This equipment can filter out foreign substances even when various colors and raw materials are mixed, such as in the noodle flake soup made by Nongshim, helping improve safety within food factories."

Nongshim Engineering's 'Agricultural Plant Raw Material Composite Inspection Equipment'