Samyang inaugurates Korea's largest facility for allulose production

Samyang Corporation has completed the construction of South Korea's largest allulose plant and is accelerating its expansion of market share for alternative sweeteners locally and internationally. The groundbreaking of the Specialty Plant in Nam-gu, Ulsan took place on 4 September in the presence of Ulsan City Deputy Mayor for Administrative Affairs Seung-dae Ahn, Ulsan City Council Member In-seop Bang, Samyang Corporation Vice Chairman Ryang Kim, Vice Chairman Won Kim, Samyang Packaging Vice Chairman Jeong Kim, and Samyang Corporation CEO Nag-hyun Choi.

The Specialty Plant consists of one building for allulose production and another for prebiotics, with a total floor area of 22,150m² and annual production capacity of 25,000 tons.
 

Notably, the allulose plant boasts an annual production capacity of 13,000 tons, more than four times larger than the previous capacity, making it the largest in the country. It is equipped to produce both liquid and crystalline allulose, the latter being advantageous for export.

The rare sugar allulose is an alternative sweetener that is about 70% as sweet as sugar but contains zero calories. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) excluded allulose from the total and added sugars labeling on processed foods in 2019, as it has virtually no calories. It offers a sweetness comparable to fructose and has the added benefit of creating a flavor similar to sugar through a caramelization reaction when heated. As a result, it is considered a next-generation alternative sweetener.

Development of liquid allulose was accomplished with Samyang Corp's proprietary enzyme technology in 2016, followed by the launch of mass production in 2020. In that same year, the company obtained the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) certification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Samyang Corporation plans to leverage the Specialty Plant as a strategic base to propose differentiated solutions by linking allulose and prebiotics, thereby expanding its market reach into North America, Japan, Southeast Asia, and beyond. The company is already on the verge of securing Novel Food approval in Australia and New Zealand, signaling a tangible path toward market expansion. Through these efforts, Samyang aims to more than double the revenue share and overseas sales ratio of its specialty business by 2030.

Choi Nag-hyun, CEO of Samyang Corporation, stated, "We have successfully completed the phased construction plan of the comprehensive Specialty Plant to strengthen our specialty business strategy. With the establishment of the largest allulose plant in Korea, we are committed to enhancing our competitiveness in the domestic and international alternative sugar markets."

He further added, "This Specialty Plant will serve as a growth engine for the next 100 years of Samyang Group's food business and will become a core base for providing health and wellness value to our customers both domestically and globally."

Meanwhile, the prebiotics plant produces resistant dextrin and fructo-oligosaccharide powder. Resistant dextrin is a soluble dietary fiber and a health functional food ingredient known for its benefits in promoting normal bowel movements, controlling post-meal blood sugar spikes, and improving blood lipid levels. Fructo-oligosaccharide, another type of health functional food ingredient, supports the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria and aids in bowel regularity.