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| Boy monks eat lotus buns made by Shinsegae Food at Jogyesa Temple in Jongno District, Seoul, May 23. Courtesy of Shinsegae Food |
By Kim Jae-heun
CJ, Shinsegae and other food companies are rushing to study a variety of vegetable-based dishes served at Buddhist temples across the country to develop a series of vegan products amid the growing popularity of vegetarianism and plant-based food diets, according to company officials, Friday.
The country's largest food firm CJ CheilJedang recently signed a business partnership with Doban HC, an operating holdings company of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, to launch jointly-developed temple foods.
The company already introduced a temple-style dumpling product on Friday, which uses natural condiments and vegetables other than the five pungent herbs, (garlic, green onion, leek, chive and wild chive) which are prohibited by Buddhism.
It is only available through an online grocery market called Seungso Mall, which is for monks and Buddhists for now, but the company plans to sell its surplus temple foods, including porridge and soy meat in a separate e-commerce platform for other consumers to be established soon.
"Temple food has great potential for its identity as a vegan food and healthy diet. Local food firms are introducing temple foods based on plant-based menus that they have developed previously," a local food firm official said.
Shinsegae Food, which is expanding its business of meat alternatives, also introduced temple food for boy monks on May 15. Shinsegae offers a self-developed plant-based meat called Better Meat for young monks, who are obligated to refrain from eating meat.
In addition, the food company offers more than 20 kinds of vegan food menu items in collaboration with temple food expert Park Sung-hee, who does not use butter, milk or eggs.
Local food firms are aiming to commercialize temple food as they believe its value will increase greatly along with the growing demand for healthy consumption in the country. Temple food has already grabbed people's attention as one of the new K-foods.
According to market research firm Statista, the global vegetable food market has grown from $29.4 billion (38.9 trillion won) in 2020 to $44.2 billion in 2022 and it is expected to reach $52.5 billion, this year.
