AhlulBayt News Agency: Seoul-based food tech firm Simple Planet is working to enter the growing Halal market in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East through a blended B2B-B2C model, incorporating cell-based and functional foods.
The company has identified increasing demand among Muslim consumers who seek healthier and more sustainable food options.
Simple Planet CEO Dominic Jeong shared that thorough research and discussions with potential customers uncovered significant opportunities in the Halal food industry.
“The Muslim population is expanding, and they are highly selective about their food choices. That’s why we decided to focus on serving them,” Jeong stated.
To penetrate the market effectively, Simple Planet is adopting a dual-strategy approach—partnering with businesses for its cell-based food ingredients while expanding its in-house B2C brand, Balboa Kitchen.
“Our market approach combines both B2B and B2C strategies, depending on the product category.
"For cell-based proteins and fats, we focus on B2B. Our primary goal is to scale up production and collaborate with major food corporations to enhance the nutritional profile of their products.
“These ingredients are highly concentrated and can be used in snacks, beverages, ready meals, and other products. We believe partnerships with leading conglomerates—including CJ, Nongshim, Pulmuone, and Nestlé—are essential to our B2B success.”
For its consumer-facing model, Simple Planet launched Balboa Kitchen, an online brand offering fiber and protein-rich snacks like granola packs and protein corn chips.
Since its launch in January 2024, the brand has been selling an average of 300,000 product units per month in South Korea.
Jeong expressed optimism about this growth rate, citing strong demand for functional foods.
“While Balboa Kitchen’s current product lineup doesn’t yet include cell-based ingredients, we are demonstrating that functional foods can be both delicious and accessible.
“Due to the positive market response, we plan to expand Balboa Kitchen to countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore, focusing mainly on Southeast Asia.”
Additionally, Jeong confirmed that the firm intends to launch operations in the Middle East by the fourth quarter of this year, with plans to expand to North America once its Asia strategy is well-established.
The company is also actively working toward obtaining Halal certification as part of its regional expansion efforts.
One of its notable achievements is developing a serum-free culture medium using probiotic-derived metabolites, eliminating the need for fetal bovine serum (FBS).
FBS, a widely used cell culture medium derived from cow’s blood, is considered haram in Islam, making its removal critical for achieving Halal compliance.
Jeong explained that using secretomes—bioactive compounds secreted by probiotics—is an approach that remains largely unexplored in the food tech industry.
The idea originated from studying similarities between the human gut microbiome and how cells are cultured, leading the firm to explore whether probiotic secretomes could support cell growth.
“We recognized a parallel between probiotic interactions in our gut microbiome and the process of cell growth, which led us to test whether secretomes could work as growth factors.”
Simple Planet’s research team successfully replaced traditional growth factors with probiotic secretions, yielding promising early results.
“We’ve been refining the formula by adjusting its nutritional profile, incorporating amino acids, and eliminating certain components,” Jeong explained.
The latest version of their medium currently achieves 65–75% of the efficiency seen in traditional FBS-based methods, producing nearly 70% of the same cell count within the same culture period.
Jeong emphasized that this innovation could have a significant global impact, particularly within Muslim communities, making Halal certification a crucial step in the company’s expansion strategy.
Simple Planet has formalized its commitment to Halal food innovation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Halal Science Center (HSC) at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, collaborating on Halal certification for cell-based food products and international market expansion.
Jeong highlighted that increasing consumer interest in wellness products and a strong regional emphasis on sustainability—especially in the Middle East—are key drivers of the company’s strategic direction.
In preparation for Middle Eastern expansion, Simple Planet is also developing embedded technologies—integrated innovations built directly into its production systems—to enhance sustainable food solutions tailored for the region.
“From a consumer standpoint, Korean beauty and wellness trends continue spreading across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
“In terms of business, the Middle East has always prioritized sustainability. That’s why we aim to introduce a sustainable food production system there.
“We are developing embedded technologies, though I can’t reveal specifics yet—but they will definitely play a role in our Middle East strategy,” Jeong said.
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