According to the Ministry of Food Safety and Medicines on the 30th, the size of the medi-food market increased from 77.9 billion won in 2019 to 164.8 billion won last year. This is due to the increased demand for affordable nutrition management as the elderly population in Korea has surpassed 9 million and the number of chronically ill has continued to rise.
Government support has also had an impact. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Food Safety and Medicines have selected Medifood as one of the top 5 promising foods in 2019 and have announced a market development plan. Since then, the Ministry of Food Safety and Medicines has updated “Foods for Special Medical Use” to standalone foods in 2020 and added “Diet Foods for Meal Management” to the sub-category. If certain criteria are met, it is marked as “○○ patient type” and allowed for marketing. A food industry official said: “As patient food types are segmented, the size of the market is expected to expand rapidly.”
Food companies are rolling out disease-specific diets one after another. In November last year, Hyundai Green Food was the first to launch a new product when it became possible to make diet foods for cancer patients. “Greeting”, a health food brand of Hyundai Green Food, recently launched a regular subscription-type diet in the form of ready-to-eat food for cancer patient health management. It is a diet made for consumers who need diet management during treatment and recovery after cancer surgery as a key focus. To be recognized as a dietary food for cancer patients, it must meet conditions such as 18% or more of calories from protein, 7% or less of calories from saturated fat, and 1350 mg or less of sodium. A Hyundai Green Food official explained: “Most cancer patients are over 65, but we launched this product considering the reality that it is difficult to eat while taking nutritional ingredients.” Pulmuone also signed a trade agreement with the Korean Cancer Association to develop food for cancer patients in September last year. After review by the Ministry of Food Safety and Medicines, it plans to introduce a formula for cancer patients later this year.
The diet for diabetic patients appeared on the market before the diet for cancer patients. Dietary nutrition for diabetic patients was the first to be introduced recently among patients with chronic diseases because it is a disease that can have the greatest effect by improving eating habits. Pulmuone introduced “Design Meal Dang Care Diet” and 10 companies including Doctor Kitchen, acquired by Presage, the No. An industry official said: “The medi-food market is expected to continue to expand as the Ministry of Food Safety and Medicines is announcing new types of food for other diseases such as hypertension.”
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[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
