The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs held a ceremony to inaugurate a food tech industry development consultation committee on Feb. 14, which will be responsible for the development of the industry.
The committee consists of 26 members from related ministries, organizations, companies, academics and experts.
Related ministries are charged with convergence expertise manpower development, R&D, robot industry development, startups development, alternative food and other food tech guidelines and exploration of homegrown materials.
They are the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and the Rural Development Administration (RDA). Related organizations, such as Korea Agro-Fisheries Food Trade Corp. (aT) and Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI) are responsible for supporting food tech companies’ overseas market entry and conducting R&D related to food.
A combined 10 food tech companies in each area, such as alternative food and other new food production, food distribution, dining robot and up-cycling sectors, are participating in the committee. Academic experts from diverse areas are also joining forces.
Prior to the inauguration ceremony, products and services from each food tech area were on display, and a combined eight companies, including vegetable replacement food, up-cycling, health functional food, convenient coffee making, and robot service firms participated in the exhibition.
During the event, the co-chairman from the private sector was elected along with MAFRA Minister Chung Hwang-keun, chairman of government side.
Prof. Lee Ki-won of Seoul National University gave a lecture on the outlook of the food tech industry, while Dir. Yang Joo-pil in charge of food industry policy at MAFRA explained about how to operate the committee.
MAFRA Minister Chung looks into productions on display during a ceremony to inaugurate a food tech industry development consultation committee on Feb. 14. (Photos: MAFRA)
In his speech, MAFRA Minister Chung said, “A plan to develop the food tech industry was established last year, laying a cornerstone to nurture the industry, and tangible outcomes need to be yielded this year.”
He called for the efficient and organic connection of various policies, such as overhauling of diverse standards and systems related to the food tech industry and each ministry’s R&D company support and manpower development.
Calls for Strengthening Grain Security
President Kim Chun-jin of Korea Agro-Fisheries Food Trade Corp. (aT) took office in March 2021.
In a recent interview with a vernacular economic daily, President Kim said he was feeling gratified that plan he revealed before a presidential screening committee was fulfilled.
President Kim, a three-time lawmaker, is credited for having established himself as a working CEO.
At that time, he summed up three keywords: digital, grain security, greenhouse gas reduction and K-food.
Mindful of the digital economic transformation, President Kim has prioritized boosting online transactions, such as integrated public meal platform and online auctions by ramping up data foundation and developing an agro-fisheries price prediction system.
The integrated public meal platform saw the value of transactions surge to 3.4 trillion won last year, a nearly two-fold jump in two years from 1.8 trillion won in 2020, bringing benefits to children, students and soldiers, he said. It was first time aT auctioned off calves in a recent online transaction.
Upon his inauguration, President Kim called for building an integrated grain/food processing combinate (combination) at Saemanguem, a reclaimed area.
He claims that building a center of grain logistics and storage facilities as well as food processing plants at the backwater site of Saemangeum Port will stabilize grain supply even in case of a crisis.
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