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| Seen is a Paris Baguette bun made with natural yeast. / Courtesy of SPC Group |
SPC Group has become the nation's first food company to have its technology acknowledged by the National Academy of Engineering of Korea as an achievement in industrial technologies of the year.
According to the operator of the country's largest bakery franchise, Paris Baguette, Sunday, its local natural yeast for bread was selected as one of the technical achievements of the year, along with 13 other industrial technologies.
The academy, which opened in 1995 to promote more efficient developments in engineering and technologies, has announced the list of excellent industrial achievements since 2006, considering their future growth potential and contributions to the market and society.
It has mostly recognized achievements in IT, chemical and heavy industries, so its acknowledgement of the food company's natural yeast was unprecedented.
The academy seemingly appreciated the natural yeast's contribution to the country's economy.
Following an 11-year-long joint research project with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Seoul National University, SPC discovered SPC-SNU 70-1 natural yeast from a traditional type of "nuruk," a fermentation starter made from wheat or rice.
It was proven fit for breadmaking because of its chewiness and plain taste that does not hide the flavors of ingredients.
SPC-SNU 70-1 obtained a patent in Korea and Japan. SPC has filed patent applications for the yeast in the United States, China and the European Union.
According to the company, the yeast will substitute imports worth over 7 billion won ($6.4 million) on annual average. Its affiliates, such as Paris Baguette and SPC Samlip, have developed and released products made with the yeast, and have made more than 200 million sales.
In addition, Korea has become the only country using its local bun for making Shake Shack burgers, as the U.S.-based premium burger chain recognized the bread made with SPC's natural yeast. SPC is licensed to operate Shack Shack restaurants here.
"The discovery of the natural yeast was meaningful, as Korea improved its fermentation technology and secured fundamental technology for research in microorganisms," an SPC official said. "We will contribute to the national competitiveness, by applying our own fundamental technologies not only to breadmaking but also to bioindustry."
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