Cultured-meat startup Seaweed to build W20b production base in Uiseong-gun

Cell-cultured food company Seaweed signed an investment agreement with North Gyeongsang Province and Uiseong-gun on Friday to build a new cell-cultured food production factory. The agreement was signed at the Uiseong Future Growth Industry Vision Declaration ceremony held at Uiseong Bio Food Valley in Uiseong-gun.

Under the agreement, Seaweed will invest 20 billion won ($14.9 million) in the Food Tech Research Support Center and industrial facility sites within Uiseong Bio Food Valley between 2026 and 2030, and plans to expand its Uiseong workforce to 46 employees. North Gyeongsang Province and Uiseong-gun will provide administrative and fiscal support within the bounds of relevant laws and ordinances. Both sides will cooperate on research and development, technology demonstration and product commercialization.

Production capacity will be expanded in stages. Seaweed currently operates a pilot line of three 500-liter culture units — totaling 1,500 liters — at the Uiseong Cell Culture Industry Support Center, producing batches for a regulatory approval application to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The company aims to establish a GMP facility with a total capacity of 6,000 liters and an annual production system of 400 tons at the Food Tech Research Support Center by 2027. It will then progressively add processing and logistics facilities and large-scale production modules to bring annual capacity up to 1,200 tons.

After Uiseong-gun was designated a regulation-free zone for cell-cultured food in 2024, Seaweed joined the zone's pilot program and set up an animal cell bank there in September 2025 and a cell culture production facility in November of the same year.

No cell-cultured food product has yet received a domestic sales permit in South Korea. Seaweed is working toward submitting approval documentation to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety by the end of this year in line with the agency's ingredient recognition process. Commercial production will begin after approval is granted.

"Traditionally farmed Hanwoo cattle will continue to serve the premium dining market, while Seaweed will take on ground-meat production first to stabilize retail costs and broaden the export base for Hanwoo," said Kim Jun-ho, chief executive of Seaweed.