Intake bets on alternative meat, zero-calorie drinks for future of food tech

South Korean food tech startup Intake Corp. sells a wide range of meat alternatives, such as plant-based egg substitutes and vegan burger patties. 

In an interview with The Korea Economic Daily, the startup’s founder and CEO Han Nok-yeob said, “The alternative food industry in South Korea is in such a nascent stage compared to Europe.”

Han said the goal is to become a leading food tech company in Asia by quickly adapting to new trends with its technological prowess. 

Intake has several brands under its umbrella, namely Innocent, which makes vegan dumplings, veggie balls and falafels, and Sugarlolo, a zero-calorie drinks label.

The company's revenue reached 12.5 billion won ($9.1 million) last year and received 8.3 billion won from SoftBank Ventures Asia so far in different stages.

Intake is a company that has both the technology built in-house and manufacturing capabilities. Of its 40 employees, 10 are in research and development (R&D). 

The company has built a research and manufacturing infrastructure that allows for developing source technology and taking the products to commercialization. 

Han said that a company that has the source technology to replace existing sources of food will be able to lead the industry in the future, as opposed to simply coming up with an idea.

“The technology we’ve built step by step by executing various government-commissioned projects is our competitive edge,” he stressed.

Intake is doing a lot of research by forming a consortium with professors at Seoul National University, Sejong University and Chung-Ang University. 

Han founded Intake in 2013 with his friends from the prestigious Seoul National University. 

Han said it has not been easy to run a food tech startup over the last decade. 

“We decided it is time to target a bigger market for the longer term, after years of finding niche markets and innovating the sectors,” he explained. “The market for alternatives to animal protein and sugar are our mid- to long-term target areas."

The startup began working on its R&D for alternatives to animal protein in 2018 and its goal is to replace 30% of food resources in Korea by 2030.

The company succeeded in creating the texture of meat using the shoot of Japanese yam and used cactus for recreating the coloring of cooked meat.

“We developed plant-based chicken breast using our own technology,” Han said. “We will expand in the alternative food market with the whole gamut of plant-based alternatives to beef, chicken breast and egg.”

Write to Eun-Yi Ko at koko@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.