A research institute and a global regulatory consulting firm have joined hands to support the overseas expansion of domestic Foodtech corporations.
The WFT Institute under the World Foodtech Council said on the 12th that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CIRS Group Korea, a global food and chemical regulatory consulting specialist, to build a safety technology foundation in the Foodtech field and support the overseas market entry of alternative protein materials.
The two institutions agreed to cooperate on building and globally spreading Foodtech safety technology; boosting exports of alternative protein materials such as cell-cultured, plant-based, and insect proteins; providing global regulatory response and safety technology consulting and training for Foodtech corporations; and hosting international academic conferences. Going forward, they will form a working-level consultative body to push ahead with detailed cooperative projects step by step, and within the year plan to pilot their first joint program, "overseas certification and export tailored consulting," for cell-cultured food and alternative protein corporations.
The alternative protein industry is drawing attention as a new growth sector that will lead the future food market, but differences in ingredient approval procedures and safety evaluation standards by country have made regulatory compliance a major challenge in domestic corporations' overseas expansion. The agreement focuses on combining CIRS Korea's expertise in responding to country-specific food and chemical substance regulations with the WFT Institute's domestic Foodtech industry network to ease corporations' burdens in proving safety and obtaining overseas certifications.
WFT Institute Director Lee Sang-jun said, "Foodtech is a field where new technologies are rapidly applied, so building a safety technology foundation preemptively is important for the industry's sustainability," and added, "We will establish a practical support system so that foods applying new technologies can enter overseas markets stably."