Shinsegae to launch wholly owned US subsidiary on alternative meat

Shinsegae Food Inc. announced Thursday it will launch its US subsidiary focused on alternative meat. 

The food arm of Shinsegae Inc. will inject $6 million into setting up Better Foods Inc., a wholly owned US subsidiary, by next month. It plans to plug in an additional $4 million during the first half of next year.

Most of the investment will be used for beefing up the competitiveness of the brand’s Better Meat products, which include plant-based sliced ham and meatballs.

The United States is the bridgehead for global alternative meat suppliers. Industry heavyweights Beyond Meat, Inc. and Impossible Foods Inc. are both based in California. 

The US alternative meat market accounts for $1.48 billion or 24% of the global total, based on 2020 figures.

The United Kingdom follows suit with an 11% market share, with Germany and China trailing behind with a 5% market share each. South Korea only accounts for 0.3% of the global alternative meat market.

Through Better Foods, Shinsegae hopes to incorporate the advanced R&D methods in the US into its products and establish infrastructure for local production to serve the North American market. 

“Beginning with North America, we plan to develop on and off-line sales channels for alternative meat markets around the globe,” a Shinsegae Food employee told The Korea Economic Daily.

Write to Soo-Jung Ha at agatha77@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.