▲ Naju City announces itself as a leading food tech city... Operating a promotional center at the 2024 Gwangju Food Exhibition

Naju City, which is pursuing the construction of Korea’s first ‘Food Tech Research Support Center’, will participate in the 2024 Gwangju Food Expo and present its vision and goals for the food tech industry.

Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Byung-tae Yoon) announced that it will operate a ‘Food Tech Business Promotion Center’ at the 2024 Gwangju Food Expo, which will be held at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in Gwangju from the 17th to the 20th.

Gwangju Food Expo, the largest food fair in the Honam area, will feature 300 companies this year, showcasing a variety of food groups including food tech, local agricultural and marine products, beverages and desserts, health and functional foods, and food industry equipment at 450 booths in one place.

Naju City is focusing on promoting the Food Tech Research Support Center, which will become a technology base in the ‘food upcycling’ field, which was selected in April this year as a contest for the top 10 food tech fields of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Food upcycling refers to utilizing resources with low commercial value, such as agricultural and livestock products and food processing by-products, and reproducing them into high value-added products.

It is attracting attention as a new growth engine for the global food industry as a means of securing agricultural competitiveness through the creation of high added value, increasing farm income, achieving carbon neutrality through resource circulation, and overcoming the climate crisis.

The Food Tech Research Support Center has facilities and equipment that companies can jointly utilize and plays a role in supporting food tech-related companies' prototype development and technology demonstration.

It is scheduled to be built on a two-story above-ground scale on a site of approximately 3,417 m2 in the Naju General Industrial Complex (385-3, Dongsu-dong) by the end of 2026.

Equipped with equipment and facilities, corporate space, and research and analysis rooms, it carries out international cooperation tasks in the food upcycling field and demonstrates various technologies.

Naju Mayor Yoon Byeong-tae said, “Naju, which is a major transportation hub for half-day trips all around the country, has the optimal conditions for revitalizing food upcycling, including excellent transportation conditions, abundant agricultural and livestock product resources, and research cooperation with research institutes and universities.”

He continued, “We will do our best to promote our city’s specialized food tech business and vision through the 2024 Gwangju Food Fair Food Tech Promotion Hall and lead the food upcycling industry by establishing a food tech industry, academia, and research cluster.”

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