Center equipped with 17 types of advanced devices covering stir-frying, deep-frying, noodle cooking and serving; startups can test prototypes and pursue US NSF certification under one roof

[Getty Images Bank]
[Getty Images Bank]

South Korea has opened its first dedicated research facility for developing and testing food robots — machines capable of stir-frying, deep-frying, boiling noodles, preparing beverages and serving customers. Small and medium-sized food and restaurant companies, as well as startups that cannot afford expensive equipment on their own, can use the center to test prototypes and receive support in obtaining overseas hygiene and safety certifications.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs held an inauguration ceremony Thursday at the Pohang Convergence Technology Industrial Complex in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, marking the official launch of the Food Robot Food-Tech Research Support Center.

The Pohang center is the first completed facility among the research support centers the ministry is building across 10 key food-tech sectors. Food robots combine AI and robotics to automate cooking, beverage preparation, serving and sanitation management.

The center features a shared research equipment room and a living lab — a shared kitchen where prototypes can be tested in real cooking environments. It is also equipped with startup office space, a co-working area, an international standards certification testing laboratory and 17 types of advanced devices. The setup allows small and medium-sized enterprises and startups to carry out everything from technology development to prototype testing without purchasing costly equipment themselves.

The center also supports companies seeking overseas certifications after completing product development. It has introduced testing and certification equipment from NSF (National Sanitation Foundation), a US hygiene and safety certification body. The ministry plans to develop the Pohang center into Asia's first food robot certification support hub by building networks among companies, enabling domestic firms to receive integrated support from technical consulting through to certification.

The center will also draw on the robotics research and industrial infrastructure concentrated in Pohang. Pohang University of Science and Technology, known as POSTECH, has operated a food-tech contract graduate program under the ministry since 2024, training food robot specialists from among workers already in the food industry.

The Korea Institute of Robotics and Technology Convergence will provide smart kitchen models and robot operation technology, while the Pohang Institute of Metal Industry Advancement and Gyeongbuk Technopark will support materials analysis and commercialization. The center also plans to build ties with Pohang-based robotics and food-tech companies including Neuromeka, Graphene Square, Polaris3D and Beyond Honeycomb.

Starting with the Pohang food robot center, the ministry plans to establish research support centers for each of the 10 core food-tech sectors by 2030, covering areas such as plant-based foods, cell-cultured foods, personalized nutrition, three-dimensional food printing and food upcycling.

Kim Jeong-wook, director general for agricultural industry innovation policy at the ministry, said the Pohang center "will serve as a model for industry-academia-research collaboration, bringing together outstanding university research, institutional robotics technology and real-world industry demand." He added that the ministry "will spare no policy support — including one-stop regulatory reform, the creation of an innovation fund and the training of specialized talent."


adastra@heraldcorp.com