Pulmuone vs. Beyond Meat: South Korean food company to challenge America's plant-based food substitute producer

Pulmuone, a South Korean company that produces perishable food items, is set to further boost its plant-based, healthy food alternative offerings. The move is part of its plan to become a leader in the meatless and eco-friendly food market and effectively taking on America’s Beyond Meat.

The company’s aim to expand globally

Pulmuone’s efforts in making its products better and healthier are paying off as its popularity has grown in recent years. Now it wants to reach the next level and be known worldwide by challenging well-known names in plant-based food alternatives such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.

To continue with its work to reach the goal of going global, the company’s Plant Protein Meal Bureau is set to launch a variety of new items. These will be released in S. Korea and overseas in nations including Japan, the U.S. and China, as per The Korea Herald.

Pulmuone also publicly revealed its 3-year plan for expanding its plant-based food products. One of these strategies is to focus on six food categories to be consistent and make sure they covered the most in-demand food alternatives out there. The listed six groups include plant-based protein food, plant-based meat, plant-based low-carbohydrate food, plant-based convenience food, plant-based beverages and drinkable food and finally, plant-based yogurt.

This year, the company will be introducing 20 new products under three of the food categories mentioned. It was said that eight have already been created and ready for production while 12 more are still in the development stage.

To make Pulmuone be the best in the field, it will be sticking to its business strategy for the food it produces. It will always be committed to “LOHAS” which is the abbreviation for “lifestyles of health and sustainability” and this means healthy and eco-friendly products that minimize the use of meat.

“The number of consumers seeking healthy and nutritious plant-based protein diets has been skyrocketing since the COVID-19 outbreak and the eco-friendly trend and the trend of conscious consumption of foods are here to stay,” Lee Sang Hyun, Pulmuone’s chief technology officer, said. “We will hold on to the company’s 40-year-old tofu manufacturing technologies and soybean-protein research and development capabilities to compete with global companies in the plant-forward food category.”

Pulmuone’s foray into meatless vegetable meat food products

Pulmuone entered the vegetable meat business and it is planning to offer groundbreaking vegetable-oriented food items through its Plant Protein Meal (PPM) division that is dedicated to developing plant protein fares.

Finally, Business Korea reported that Pulmuone is also preparing to launch domestic and international vegetable-oriented products simultaneously. The aim here is to offer food that is tailored to suit certain market’s palates. So in Korea, it will be releasing Korean-style high-protein plant-based meat and it will be the same for other countries.