Low sugar and high protein. These are the two keywords dominating today's table. As the food industry jumps on this megatrend, research and development (R&D) is shifting its center of gravity from simply "reducing" to redesigning sugar and carbohydrates themselves.
CJ CheilJedang on the 2nd unveiled an R&D strategy that reflects this trend at the 2026 Korea Society of Food Science and Technology International Conference held at the Daejeon Convention Center. The two pillars are sugar reduction (low sugar) and high-protein, high-dietary-fiber rice (carbohydrates).
Sugar reduction opened the salvo. Senior Manager Jeong Ji-woo of CJ CheilJedang said in a presentation on "sweetness design strategies for sugar reduction," "Replacing sugar is not simply a matter of matching sweetness, but a process of reproducing the complex sensory properties that sugar provides."
According to Jeong, sugar reduction using alternative sweeteners has established itself as a global megatrend, with growth especially steep in Korea. According to CJ CheilJedang, while the launch of new products using alternative sweeteners grew by an annual average of 3.2% in the global market from 2019 to 2025, it increased by more than 26% annually in Korea. The number of "zero sugar" products in Korea has increased about tenfold in the 10 years since 2015, the company said.
Jeong said, "The focus started with reducing sugar, but it is expanding to calorie improvement, clean labels, and a preference for natural sweeteners," adding, "Consumers want not just less sugar but sweeter solutions that are safer and more trustworthy." This is why natural sweeteners such as allulose, stevia, erythritol, and monk fruit are increasing their presence in the Korean market.
The key is a "sugar-like taste." Sugar's sweetness rises fast and strong, then disappears cleanly, while some high-intensity sweeteners leave lingering sweetness and a bitter or metallic aftertaste. CJ CheilJedang said it narrows this gap by combining bulk sweeteners (such as allulose), which provide both volume and sweetness like sugar, with high-intensity sweeteners that deliver strong sweetness in tiny amounts, and by adding "taste modulation" technology that boosts upfront sweetness while masking the aftertaste.
The carbohydrate camp, whose flagship is Hetbahn, is responding with the same logic. Instead of cutting unconditionally, it is redesigning rice (carbohydrates) itself to be high in protein and high in dietary fiber, riding the high-protein trend.
Head of Team Jang Il-sang of CJ CheilJedang assessed, "If there used to be a 'carb phobia' fad that said carbohydrates must be cut no matter what, now the trend is shifting to consuming them more healthily and strategically by designing diets that include whole grains." The foundation for this perception was last year's "slow aging" craze that swept Korea. As the Mediterranean diet popularized whole grains, beans, nuts, and dietary fiber, a consensus formed that "carbohydrates can be healthy if you choose well," and this year the center of gravity has shifted to high protein, Jang said.
In response, CJ CheilJedang has been designing rice products to a high-protein, high-dietary-fiber level and releasing them. Examples include multigrain rice using lupini beans (lupin beans), whose protein density is higher than chickpeas and peas, and high-protein frozen rice made with whole grains such as farro. Regarding lentil brown rice, which raised the lentil content to 40%, Jang said, "It was the product that became the starting point of last year's slow aging trend."
Observers say this direction also aligns with CJ CheilJedang's reorganization the previous day of its business structure into three areas—lifestyle foods, technology materials, and core materials—and its placement of new materials such as allulose in the newly established core materials area. The center of gravity in food R&D is moving toward "premiumization," which redesigns taste and nutrition in response to consumer demand for low sugar and high protein.