The economic promotion agency of the Seoul metropolitan government, the Seoul Business Agecy (SBA), has opted for Barcelona as a gateway to the European Korean innovation in the restaurant sector. Thus, two hallmarks of Korean culture enter the Catalan capital, technology, called K-Techand healthy and sustainable eating, K-Food.
Since 2021 and with the help of the SBA, Barcelona has established itself as a test bed and gateway to Europe for the most cutting-edge technology from South Korea. This time, the project is about four startups Korean companies specialized in gastronomy and hospitality services who are going to test their innovations in various restaurants in the city. Are They still do not have a presence in the Spanish market and, therefore, they are interested in finding business opportunities to establish themselves.
Slunch
The first startup offers a vegan kimchi paella. Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish that is the central pillar of the K-Food. Slunch Factory stands out for its vegan and tasty dishes, and has restaurants and shops in Seoul. One of his cooks has worked hand in hand with the cook at Casa Candela to make a vegan kimchi paella and another seafood also with kimchi. These dishes will be available both at the Casa Candela restaurant in Barcelona and at Slunch in Seoul.
The launch of this project is scheduled for next year on both continentsand will make Slunch an ambassador for paella in Korea, and for vegan kimchi here. Thus, it aims introduce vegan kimchi in 160 gram cans in Spain.
Sustainable Lab
This startup is motivated by sustainability, and operates under the brand Idden. Sustainable Lab develops innovative, eco-friendly solutions that address plastic waste and address sustainable practices across various industries. One of these initiatives is RE:Treea recycled material technology created from wood and agricultural by-products, which is 100% free of microplastics.
In Barcelona, Sustainable Lab presents RE:Tree through tablewarein a first step to transform the restaurant sector and establish new standards for sustainable practices. For every Idden brand product, a tree is plantedsupporting the conservation of rainforests, the preservation of biodiversity and global action against climate change.
meping
In a restaurant in Barcelona, due to the language barrierstourists sometimes don’t understand 80% of the menu correctly, and end up leaving having ordered only the most basic dishes. This untransmitted “true value of the restaurant” represents the loss of 50% of potential income.
Faced with this problem, Meping presents an AI-based menu solution created to solve this problem, providing the real-time translation of menus into 33 languages depending on the language settings of the customer’s mobile phone. In addition, it also offers the chef’s story behind each dish in an exhaustive manner, information on ingredients and allergies, and wine pairing suggestions.
This last feature helps customers easily and conveniently understand and select the restaurant’s premium wine list. This increases sales of high-margin wine products. During the pilot test in Barcelona, restaurants that used Meping experienced an average increase in income of 32%.
Cherry
A new trend in Korean culture combines fun and giving. Cherry Photo It is the perfect complement before, during or after a gastronomic evening, as it combines Korean fashion with photo booths with solidarity. This innovative experience allows users to donate automatically by taking a photo. The entire process is controlled transparently through technology blockchain.
The name Cherry comes from the English word charityand symbolizes love and sharing through its vibrant red color. This fun and modern photo booth It has become a hallmark of Korean culturealong with the global phenomenon of K-Pop. The general director of Cherry, in recent years, has sought to achieve a greater social impact, thus leading to the birth of this project. At the moment, The company is exploring agreements with organizations to contribute significantly to Spanish society.
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