Samyang to cement lead in South Korean allulose market

Samyang Corp., a 100-year-old South Korean chemical and food ingredient-manufacturer, is poised to cement its leadership in the Korean allulose market after opening the country’s largest alternative sweetener production factory.

The company on Wednesday celebrated completion of its specialty ingredient production complex, which cost about 140 billion won ($104.3 million) to build.

Located in Ulsan, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the new complex is composed of an allulose factory and a prebiotics factory set on a 22,000-square-meter land area. The two factories will together churn out 25,000 tons of specialty ingredients a year.

In particular, the new allulose factory can produce 13,000 tons of the sugar alternative per year, four times the capacity of Samyang’s old allulose factory.

Boasting Korea’s largest allulose production capacity, the new factory is expected to enable Samyang to solidify its No. 1 position in the country’s allulose market by sales, widening the gap against its crosstown rival Daesang Corp.

Allulose is a rare sugar that is found naturally in fruits like figs and raisins. It is not as sweet as real sugar and virtually calorie-free. Demand for it has been rising in recent years as more people seek out healthy substitutes for sugar.

EYEING A BIGGER GLOBAL MARKET

Samyang developed allulose syrup in 2016 and began mass producing it in 2020. The ingredient's brand name is Nexweet.

The new allulose factory has facilities fit to produce not only allulose syrup but also granulated allulose — or crystalline allulose — suitable for export.

Following the opening of the new factory complex, Samyang aims to double the share of specialty ingredient sales in its overall sales and overseas sales by 2030.

As part of its efforts to meet the goal, it will advance into North America, Japan and Southeast Asia to expand overseas sales of its specialty ingredients. It has already made forays into Australia and New Zealand.

The company will produce nondigestible maltodextrin and fructooligosaccharide power, a raw ingredient for functional foods, from the new prebiotics factory.

The sugar refiner also produces general food ingredients such as sugar, starch sugar, flour and oil/fat.

Its other mainstay business is a chemical business that produces engineering plastic, ion exchange resin and electronic materials.  

Write to Hun-Hyoung Ha at hhh@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.