Trash becomes treasure as food waste processor market grows

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Trash becomes treasure as food waste processor market grows

Published: 11 Apr. 2025, 07:00

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A food waste processor owned by newly-married 31-year-old Kim [JOONGANG ILBO]

Any grownup with the slightest experience in household chores is familiar with the dread of cleaning, especially cleaning out food waste. But not anymore.

“I hesitated at first, but now I use it all the time,” said a 32-year-old office worker surnamed Kim, who got married last December.

Among the appliances purchased for the couple's new home, Kim singled out the food waste processor — commonly installed in sink drains in North America, where they are known as garbage disposals —as the product that delivers the most bang for its buck.

“As a dual-income household, we were always worried about leftover food," Kim said. "But now we just toss it in, and it heats and grinds everything automatically. It drastically reduces the volume and eliminates bad odors in the house.”

Food waste processors — or eumcheogi in Korean — are fast becoming the latest must-have item, following the mainstream success of robot vacuum cleaners, dishwashers and dryers, which have been dubbed the “big three appliances offering liberation from domestic chores.”

Waste no time on food waste

The trend is proven by the numbers.

According to interior and home platform Today’s House, searches for food waste processors in 2024 increased by 140.1 percent compared to 2022. This far outpaced search growth for robot vacuums at 84.9 percent and dishwashers at 11.4 percent.

In fact, food waste processors ranked as the No. 1 kitchen appliance people hoped to buy within a year, with 49.3 percent of respondents selecting it, according to a 2022 appliance trends report by market research firm Open Survey.

Experts say the trend reflects a broader demographic and social shift.

“Both dual-income and single-person households find it difficult to manage domestic chores,” said Lee Eun-hee, professor of consumer studies at Inha University. “Food waste is particularly troublesome — it smells and attracts bugs if left out for just a day or two, so people need solutions for quicker disposal.” She added that unusually prolonged summers due to climate change may also be driving demand.

"The Flender" food waste processor [MINIX]

Buying time with money

The market is growing at a rapid pace, but tech giants have so far been slow to react.

Industry data shows that the domestic food waste processor market jumped from 185 billion won ($127 million) in 2023 to 330 billion won in 2024 — a 78 percent increase. It is projected to reach 580 billion won this year and 940 billion won in 2025, surpassing 1 trillion won for the first time by 2027.

One notable market leader is the appliance brand Minix, which launched the Flender in September 2023. The product’s quarterly revenue rose from 2.6 billion won in the last quarter of 2023 to 5.3 billion, 12.2 billion and 17.9 billion won over the next three quarters. It saw a slight dip in the first quarter of this year to 16.6 billion won.

The company now holds an estimated 25 percent share of the domestic food waste processor market. Minix attributed the success to three factors.

“We cut advertising costs and offered the product at about half the price of other premium models," a company representative said. "Its compact size — about the width of a hand — and award-winning design also helped. And, of course, the technology itself.”

Major conglomerates such as LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics are taking a more cautious approach. LG conducted a pilot project last August in partnership with the city of Ansan, installing units in about 40 apartments. However, it has yet to formally enter the market.

Samsung Electronics registered a trademark in 2020 for a product called “Bespoke The Zero” but has not released it. Some industry watchers suggest the big players may be underestimating the category — much like they did with robot vacuums — and could risk missing the optimal moment to enter.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY YI WOO-LIM [[email protected]]