Pulmuone to expand alternative meat business in the US

South Korea’s major food company Pulmuone. Co. is slated to expand sales of its in-house developed meat alternatives in the US market. The food company on Nov. 8 said it will sell soybean protein-based meat alternatives at all WaBa Grill restaurants, a healthy rice bowl franchise in the US. Founded in 2006, WaBa Grill now has nearly 200 locations in California and Arizona.

Pulmuone launched its plant-based meat brand Plantspired in the US market early this year through Nasoya, a US leading tofu company that Pulmuone’s subsidiary Pulmuone Foods US acquired in 2016. In May, WaBa Grill announced it signed a partnership with Nasoya to provide Plantspired Bulgogi, a Korean BBQ-inspired alternative to steak, to all of its locations in the US. The healthy rice bowl franchise will launch three "steak" menus based on Plantspired’s alternative meat. 

“The US is a great testbed for the marketability of meat alternatives. Expanding the vegan meat business in the US, we’ll launch a plant-based food brand soon in Korea,” said an official of Pulmuone. The US plant-based meat market size increased from $811 million in 2018 to $1.4 billion in 2020, according to wellness-focused data analysis company Spins.   

Pulmuone’s meat alternative business is a key strategy to expand the company’s presence in the US. After the acquisition of Nasoya, Pulmuone Foods US’ share in the US tofu market has increased to 70%, according to market research firm Nielsen. Backed by tofu sales, Pulmuone Foods US posted a surplus last year for the first time since its foundation in 1991.   

Other food companies of Korea from conglomerates to startups are entering the alternative meat market. Shinsegae Inc., Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae Group’s food affiliate, launched an alternative meat brand Better Meat in late July of this year. The brand’s first product in the market is a cold-cut ham made with soy protein and vegetable oil.

In addition, Korean conglomerate SK Group's investment arm SK Inc. in October said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korean food company SPC Samlip Co. to jointly look for investment opportunities in the Korean alternative food business. At the time, the two parties said they were considering launching an alternative food service by introducing related technology from UK plant-based protein company Meatless Farm.

Biomix Inc., a startup developing nature-derived materials for functional food products, cosmetics and drugs, attracted 20 billion won ($17 million) in series B investment from Kiwoom Private Equity Corporation and Kiwoom Investment Co. in October. Biomix is reportedly the only Korean company that secures technology of textured vegetable protein (TVP), a highly processed vegan meat material. Zikooin Company, a Korean startup operating plant-based meat brand Unlimeat, drew 10 billion won in series B investment in February of this year. 

By Jong-Kwan Park and Minki Koo 

pjk@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.