[Innovation Meets Startups] Deep.Plant: Innovating the Meat Market with 'Deep-aging' Technology

By Eom Jeong-han, Partner Patent Attorney at BLT Patent & Law Firm

It's a long-standing paradox of the meat market: producers weep over losses while consumers hesitate at high prices. Now, a food-tech startup has stepped forward to solve this age-old problem with technology. That company is Deep.Plant (CEO Kim Cheol-beom), which is creating new added value through the complete consumption of meat with its innovative 'Deep-aging' technology.

Why is beef so expensive for consumers when Hanwoo farmers are selling their cattle at a loss? Deep.Plant diagnoses the cause of this problem not as a complex distribution structure, but as the 'discarded less-preferred cuts and low-grade meat.' In reality, about 20% of all meat is thrown away unsold during the processing stage, and the cost of this loss is passed directly onto the prices of the preferred cuts and high-grade meat that consumers seek out. This is a serious inefficiency that not only increases the burden on consumers but also leads to resource waste and environmental problems.

The problems in the meat and meat market that Deep.Plant aims to solve. [Photo=Deep.Plant]

To solve this issue, Deep.Plant developed its proprietary 'Deep-aging' technology. Deep-aging goes beyond simple meat aging; it is a precision technology system that predicts and controls the taste and tenderness of meat. The core of this technology lies in the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) analysis and physical processing techniques.

First, the AI analysis technology converts the quality of meat into objective data. A proprietary camera and Android app developed by Deep.Plant capture a cross-sectional image of the meat and simultaneously transmit this image along with metadata—such as breed, slaughter date, and cut—to a cloud server. Notably, this camera is equipped with multi-channel near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, which can measure moisture, fat, and protein content invisible to the naked eye, adding a high degree of precision to the analysis.

This collected data is analyzed by AI models based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Vision Transformers (ViT) to predict taste, tenderness, and grade with high accuracy. This entire process creates a virtuous cycle where image data, electronic tongue measurements, and sensory evaluation data are integrated as learning sources for the deep learning model, which is continuously optimized.

Artificial intelligence technology that improves even less-preferred cuts. [Photo=Deep.Plant]

Once the optimal processing conditions are determined based on these predictions, the physical deep-aging process begins. Vacuum-sealed meat is placed in a deep-aging chamber, where a combination of water pressure, ultrasound, and precisely controlled water temperature is applied.

This physical energy works to destroy small organelles within the muscle cells called 'lysosomes.' When lysosomes are destroyed, the proteolytic enzyme 'cathepsin' contained within them is released and begins to break down muscle proteins—this is the principle behind how meat becomes tender. The deep-aging technology artificially and explosively accelerates this process, resulting in a tenderizing effect that is more than twice as fast as natural aging.

The technology's effectiveness is also proven by changes at the microscopic level. Microscopic observation of the muscle tissue of deep-aged Hanwoo top round clearly confirmed that the densely packed sarcomeres (muscle fibers) were physically broken and separated after treatment. This is also demonstrated by a sharp increase in the 'Myofibrillar Fragmentation Index (MFI),' a scientific indicator of meat tenderness, where a higher MFI value means the meat is more tender.

Furthermore, this technology artificially shortens the period of rigor mortis, the stiffening of muscles after slaughter. In its natural state, it takes about seven days for rigor mortis in beef to resolve and for aging to begin. The deep-aging system advances this period by 3 to 10 days, quickly bringing the meat's taste and tenderness to an optimal state.

How AI is used to enhance the taste of meat. [Photo=Deep.Plant]

Deep.Plant's innovative technology and business model are rapidly gaining recognition in both domestic and international markets. It has drawn particular attention as the only meat technology company to be selected for TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startups), a leading government support program for technology-based startups.

Domestically, the company has solidified its business foundation through partnerships with large corporations. It was selected for NH Nonghyup's Open Business Hub program, with which it co-developed a bulgogi product using less-preferred Hanwoo and Handon cuts, now being supplied through Nonghyup affiliates.

Its collaboration with Hoengseong Hanwoo, Korea's top premium beef brand, is especially noteworthy. Deep.Plant is the first startup to operate a dedicated processing plant within the Hoengseong Hanwoo slaughterhouse, where it is carrying out a quality improvement project.

Through these efforts, the company is achieving concrete results, such as consuming over 100 tons of less-preferred cuts annually and creating more than 200,000 won of added value per head of cattle.

Additionally, restaurants that receive deep-aged meat report a sales revenue increase of over 10% due to the ability to serve consistently high-quality menus.

The business performance of products produced through deep-aging. [Photo=Deep.Plant]

Deep.Plant's vision extends beyond Korea to the global stage. In 2023, it made its name on the global scene at 'Slingshot,' the competition within Asia's largest startup event, 'SWITCH,' by advancing to the Top 50 finals as the first-ever meat startup and the only Korean food-tech startup to do so.

Building on this momentum, the company is making concrete progress in Singapore, a testbed for the Southeast Asian market. It has laid the groundwork for investment, logistics, and joint brand

development by signing a series of MOUs with key players, including 'Innovate360' (Southeast Asia's largest food-tech accelerator), 'Allied' (Singapore's largest container logistics company), and 'Meat Co' (which holds a 28% share of the local meat market).

Deep.Plant gaining attention at a global startup competition. [Photo=Deep.Plant]

The company achieved sales of 2 billion won in 2024, focusing on B2B supply, and aims to grow to 7 billion won in 2025. In the future, it plans to target the Southeast Asian meat market—where meat is characteristically tough due to natural grazing—with its deep-aging technology, starting with the establishment of a factory in Malaysia in 2026 and expanding into Thailand and Vietnam.

Deep.Plant presents a vision of 'creating a healthy environment through the healthy consumption of technology-based meat.' The industry is keenly watching to see what innovations Deep.Plant's challenge—to simultaneously create economic, environmental, and social value through the complete consumption of meat resources—will bring to the domestic and international meat industries.