Samyang Foods has established a research and development (R&D) base in the Netherlands to target the European market. The strategy is to place a research organization near Wageningen, regarded as the hub of European food research, and secure food technology by collaborating with the global research network.
On the 13th, Samyang Foods said it recently set up a European R&D office near Wageningen in the Netherlands. The company had operated a research organization by securing a temporary office and lab space in the Ede area in Jan., and moved to the current building after the research facility was completed in Feb.
Samyang Foods chose Wageningen as its research base because the area is recognized as a world-class food and agriculture research cluster. In particular, Wageningen University is known internationally as an authoritative institution in food and agriculture research. Global researchers, technology partners, and innovative food companies are also concentrated there. Samyang Foods plans to strengthen its capabilities in developing global food technologies through cooperation with this research ecosystem.
The newly established research organization will focus on developing plant-based ingredient foods and functional foods. In particular, research on foods using plant proteins is one of the main areas. However, the plan is to conduct research in parallel to develop new food solutions using various innovative technologies, not limiting the scope to protein research. Samyang Foods said, "The European research and development activities aim to develop healthier and more functional foods based on plant-based ingredients."
The new research organization will operate as an overseas research base of the Korea headquarters, not as a local subsidiary. This is because, in general, overseas labs function primarily as R&D bases responsible for technology scouting, joint research with universities and research institutes, material and technology testing, securing local talent, and exploring technology trends. As it is not an organization that directly generates sales but is run mainly on research expenses, it will initially operate as an exploratory unit, and the structure has been designed to flexibly expand the organization in line with future business expansion.
The European R&D organization currently has seven people and is expected to expand to about 12 to 15. However, the company said it plans to operate the organization within the planned size for the time being.
Samyang Foods also plans to continue cooperation with its local sales subsidiary in the Netherlands. Earlier, in Aug. 2024, the company established a European subsidiary (Samyang Foods Europe B.V.) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as a sales base to target the European market.