The "manufacturing paradigm" that has supported Korea's economy is shaking from its foundation. Stuck in a rut of low growth, Korea's manufacturing sector faces a compound crisis from China's fierce pursuit and a global supply chain reshuffle. In particular, small and midsize manufacturing sites, the capillaries of industry and the roots of supply chains, are groaning under a "triple burden" of labor shortages, rising costs and stagnant productivity, and are being pushed to the brink. Now the only breakthrough for survival is "AX (AI transformation)." Artificial intelligence (AI) is more than a simple technology adoption; it is the last bulwark that will breathe new life into aging factories and restart the growth engine of Korea's economy. ChosunBiz takes a close look at why small and midsize manufacturers on the edge of a cliff must stake everything on AX, and the "new growth map" that Korea's manufacturing should follow. [Editor's note]
On the 28th in Anguk-dong, Jongno District, Seoul. At "Root," the flagship store operated by the flavor AI tech company "Jumidang," an unfamiliar scene unfolded.
That was because the starting point of the story of making alcohol was not rice or nuruk, but a natural language prompt on a computer screen. It was clearly a different scene from traditional brewing sites that had relied for decades on the senses and experience of skilled workers.
"Make the acidity of the yuzu not sharp, with the peel's oil aroma rising first, then wrapped by a subtle sweetness. Keep the alcohol content around 8% and the carbonation refreshing."
As soon as Jumidang CEO Kim Dong-wan finished speaking, Alchemy, a flavor recipe design foundation AI, kicked into gear. About three minutes later, a new alcoholic beverage recipe was completed on the screen. It was the moment when a flavor design process that would take at least three months, or up to a year, in a conventional brewery was compressed into just a few minutes.
Kim said, "If you repeat sensory evaluations to nail the taste of the alcohol, people's sense of taste and smell dull even after a single day, and efficiency drops sharply," adding, "Alchemy implements the conditions entered via prompts directly into recipes, dramatically reducing trial and error and inefficiency."
Root is a space where people can enjoy various curated spirits and in-house-developed beverages paired to food, and it serves as a forward base to test and validate Jumidang's "brewing AX (AI transformation)" strategy.
Alchemy is an AI trained on large-scale flavor molecule data and sensory response data. It predicts the chemical interactions among flavor components and, based on that, generates optimal blend recipes that realize the desired tastes and aromas. Rather than simply recommending similar combinations from existing databases, it directly designs new combinations that did not exist in the world by taking as input the structure of the aroma and taste the user wants.
◇ Brewing long left to "human senses," reinvented with AI
Jumidang is fundamentally changing processes by applying AI technology to the traditional brewing industry, which has relied on the senses and experience of seasoned workers.
Kim explained, "We are pursuing AX to convert the brewing system to an AI-based one," adding, "Our goal is to simultaneously boost the quality and speed of the manufacturing floor."
The effect is evident in the numbers. In alcoholic beverage manufacturing, the rate at which the initially designed taste and aroma are realized identically in the actual finished goods averages about 35%. But when Alchemy is applied, the identical quality reproduction rate can be raised to 93%. Jumidang is currently supplying Alchemy to 12 breweries nationwide, jointly carrying out recipe development and validation.
Jumidang is not stopping at being a simple AI solution company. It currently supplies customized alcoholic beverages to about 12 franchises and roughly 400 stores via OEM (original equipment manufacturing). It provides AI recipe design services to breweries and delivers finished goods to restaurants in a bifurcated business structure.
With its own brewery in Gochang, North Jeolla, Jumidang designs a variety of styles tailored to each store's menu, such as sweetness-forward beverages and aroma-forward floral beverages. Its product lineup is broad, ranging from Earl Grey highballs and grapefruit-scented whiskey to Korean rice wine and distilled spirits.
Growth has been steep as well. In its first year, 2023, Jumidang logged sales of 190 million won, followed by 2.1 billion won in 2024 and 17 billion won last year. This year's sales target is 45 billion won.
◇ Applying AI to perfume and beauty industries as well…aiming to realize robots' senses of taste and smell
Jumidang was founded by Kim in 2023. Kim had dreamed of founding a company since student days. After graduating from Yonsei University with a degree in information statistics, Kim worked at SK before starting the business.
Kim said, "Sight and hearing have already been advanced by digital technology, but scent and taste still depend on the subjective senses of producers and designers," explaining the reason for starting up: "I wanted to innovate this structure with technology."
Jumidang is also moving to expand into the perfume and beauty markets. It has already developed an AI solution applicable to perfume production processes, and in the beauty field it has technology to design entire product lineups based on the scents a brand pursues. It is also considering entering industrial applications such as odor reduction. It is currently discussing collaboration with two global corporations.
Kim said, "Even with just combinations of products like skin, lotion and color cosmetics, tens of thousands of scent designs are possible," adding, "We envision an era when consumers can create scents at home to match their mood, clothing and destination." Kim went on to emphasize, "We will build a general-purpose foundation AI that designs scents and tastes."
Kim's ultimate goal lies further ahead. Kim said, "Someday a time will come when a Humanoid Robot can smell and taste," adding, "We will make it so that Jumidang's foundation AI can be the basis of sensory technology that allows a robot to cook, taste broth and adjust it on the spot."