Ottogi Picks 'Medifood' as Future Food Source... Collaborates with Itmaple

In May Last Year, Invested in Itmaple and Signed MOU
Company to Collaborate on B2B Production Targeting SMEs and Small Hospitals

Ottogi announced on the 3rd that it has invested in the startup Itmaple and started new business collaboration to develop and support Medifood, which is gaining attention as a promising future food industry. Medifood, also known as 'special medical purpose food,' refers to beverages, lunchboxes, and other products made for those who require special nutritional management due to health reasons such as the elderly and patients with illnesses. Ottogi has decided to establish a production collaboration system for Itmaple's B2B new business launched for companies and small to medium-sized hospitals.

Itmaple Daily Meal, Healthy Lunchbox Delivery Service

Celebrating its 55th anniversary this year, Ottogi is dedicated to various research and development as well as the production of various seasoning sauces, retort foods, frozen foods, and more under the management philosophy of 'contributing to the improvement of human dietary life.' To keep pace with the growth of the future food industry and expand knowledge and experience in the Medifood industry, Ottogi invested in Itmaple in May last year and signed an MOU for business cooperation in August of the same year. The goal is to establish a foundation for health management through food, including Medifood, in the future.

Itmaple, established in 2017 as a Medifood specialized company, provides customized healthy meals for those who need dietary control due to diseases such as diabetes and cancer, based on its expertise in Medifood specialized for kidney disease. Using health data, Itmaple creates customized meal plans and regularly delivers diets with reduced salt, sugar, and iodine, such as ‘Masitjeo-yeom’ (delicious low-salt), ‘Masitjeo-dang’ (delicious low-sugar), and ‘Masitjeo-yo’ (delicious low-iodine), which have received high praise for their health-specific menus. Additionally, Itmaple offers frozen products such as meal-type lunchboxes, rice bowls, convenience foods, and porridges, making it easier and more convenient for not only patients but also the general public to consume health management meals.

Recently, Itmaple has attracted attention by expanding its scope from B2C through its own mall ‘Masitjeo-yeom’ to B2B as well. In July, Itmaple established a new base kitchen called 'Masitjeo-yeom Kitchen' and began expanding into the B2B market. Itmaple launched ‘Itwellcare,’ a welfare program for companies, delivering low-sugar and low-salt products with great taste and nutrition to office workers, along with 1:1 nutrition counseling with clinical dietitians to support individual health management as a total wellness service. Furthermore, for small to medium-sized hospitals, Itmaple plans to provide daily meal services and healthy lunchboxes to promote patients’ rapid recovery.

An Ottogi official stated, "Medifood is emerging as a core industry within the food sector," and added, "Based on the partnership with Itmaple, we will cooperate across the entire Medifood field in the future."