Kimchi gets a makeover: youth startups turn it into sauces, sausages and pastries

Kimchi has been reimagined as a sauce, a spread, a sausage, a dessert and a fish-shaped pastry — the result of young entrepreneurs pairing their ideas with the scientific expertise and research infrastructure of a government-funded institute.

The World Institute of Kimchi said it has unveiled five kimchi-based prototypes developed through its 2026 Kimchi Startup Idea Contest and will hold a public online vote from Tuesday through Sunday.

The five products are: a "red bean jang-kimchi sauce" that reinterprets traditional jang-kimchi in a modern form; "KIMCHIZ," a kimchi spread made with kabocha squash and rice flour; a clean-label, additive-free kimchi sausage infused with fermented kimchi flavor; a "kimchi yeon-gwa," a traditional Korean confection reimagined with kimchi; and a handcrafted "dimchimi pastry bungeo-ppang," a fish-shaped pastry combining kimchi with flaky pastry dough.

A total of 65 teams applied for the contest. Five teams beat a 13-to-1 field to be selected and spent roughly five months developing their products from May through September.

The World Institute of Kimchi went beyond simply covering production costs, directly applying its research capabilities to the development process. Support included improving ingredient ratios and input methods, setting sterilization conditions to preserve flavor, applying freeze-drying technology, and establishing ingredient management methods to ensure consistent taste.

The institute provided a combined 100 million won ($73,600) in prototype production funding across the five teams, with each team receiving up to 20 million won. Food engineering, restaurant management and marketing specialists were also brought in to offer consulting on commercialization models, packaging, marketing, hygiene management and retail standards needed for market entry.

The completed prototypes will be ranked through a combination of public and expert evaluations — public votes will account for 20 percent of the score and expert assessments for the remaining 80 percent. One grand prize winner, two excellence award recipients and two merit award recipients will be selected. The total purse is 11 million won.

The grand prize product will receive follow-up support aimed at bringing it to actual sale, including a potential pop-up store tie-up with Hyundai Department Store, subject to the store's internal operating standards and a post-contest review.

Jang Hae-chun, director of the World Institute of Kimchi, said the institute would "actively support promising ideas so that young people's creative concepts, combined with the institute's science, technology and infrastructure, can lead to real products and new businesses."