This photo provided by Hyundai Green Food Co. shows the food service provider’s medical food products.
SEOUL, April 14 (Korea Bizwire) — As the young generation’s interest in health is growing, South Korea’s medical food market, once reliant on the elderly population, is expanding.
Medical foods, or foods for special dietary use, originally referred to foods that are processed to be more easily edible for elderly people or patients.
In recent days, however, the concept of medical food is expanding towards healthy foods, including low-sugar, low-sodium and low-calorie foods.
Hyundai Green Food Co. opened a store specializing in professional care food brand Greating at Hyundai Department Store’s Pangyo outlet.
The store is selling about 220 kinds of medical food products and 20 kinds of products for people with special dietary needs, including those on a low-sugar diet and those with diabetes.
CJ Freshway Corp., a specialist in the supply of medical foods for senior nursing centers and hospitals, plans to expand the scope of its business towards direct sales to consumers by releasing a subscription service that would deliver foods to homes on a regular basis by the end of this year.
Daesang Life Science, a subsidiary of Daesang Group, recently built a factory in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province as part of efforts to strengthen its care food business.
Other food and beverage companies including Hy, Shinsegae Food Inc. and Ourhome are also actively expanding similar products.
“The size of the medical food market is expected to expand further thanks to the growth in the number of elderly people and the increase in their spending,” an industry official said.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
