Food Research Institute Designates Sempio Foods Company as New Family Company, Launching Full-Scale Technical Cooperation

[Financial News] The Korea Food Research Institute announced that it designated Sempio Foods Company as a new family company for 2026 and held a designation certificate presentation ceremony and signboard unveiling at Sempio Our Fermentation Research Center in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, on the 2nd.
The Korea Food Research Institute’s Technology Support and Commercialization Center designates and operates domestic food companies as family companies after comprehensively considering their commitment to technological innovation, growth potential, and existing technologies. Designated companies receive customized support by leveraging the institute’s food-related research and development (R&D) infrastructure and expertise, including technology and know-how, research equipment and facilities, and information. Through this program, the institute supports companies’ technological innovation and growth while establishing a foundation for sustainable cooperation between the institute and businesses.
This designation as a family company is a follow-up achievement to the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in food and technology development signed by the Korea Food Research Institute and Sempio Foods Company in March. Under the agreement, the two organizations agreed to cooperate on strengthening the competitiveness of the food industry by identifying and conducting joint research projects, transferring and commercializing technologies, supporting product certification and entry into new markets, and exchanging specialized personnel and R&D infrastructure.
The two organizations will also pursue the 2026 Research-Linked Support Project to examine new applications for food ingredients and conduct joint research to identify high-value-added food ingredients. The project is a corporate support program in which researchers from the Korea Food Research Institute conduct research independently or jointly with companies to resolve technological challenges in the food industry and secure future innovative technologies. After the research concludes, the organizations will also assess the potential for disseminating its results, focusing on economic outcomes, certifications and patents obtained, and the possibility of linking the results to follow-up R&D. The Korea Food Research Institute plans to conduct joint research based on its research capabilities in the food sector, while Sempio Foods Company will reflect its industrial experience and market needs in the research, thereby increasing the likelihood that the results can be applied in the field.
The Korea Food Research Institute and Sempio Foods Company will continue to identify joint research and technical cooperation projects based on the needs of the food industry. They also plan to expand the practical use and commercialization potential of research results.
Baek Hyun-dong, president of the Korea Food Research Institute, said, "This designation as a family company is a meaningful example of cooperation between the two organizations leading to a concrete research project. We will actively support efforts to combine the Korea Food Research Institute’s expertise in food R&D with Sempio Foods Company’s experience in the industry, contributing to the discovery and utilization of high-value-added food ingredients and the creation of sustainable value in the food industry."
Lee Young Jin, executive vice president of Sempio Foods Company, stated, "We will combine our fermentation technology expertise accumulated over 80 years with the Korea Food Research Institute’s research capabilities to ensure that research results can be put to practical use in the industry."

[email protected] Yeon Ji-an Reporter