Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have challenged the food packaging material market, which is entirely imported from Japan.
SR Technopack (CEO Hong-ro Cho) announced on the 22nd that it will develop 'GB-8', a multi-coating film technology that has high oxygen barrier properties and is resistant to high-temperature water, and will commercialize it in the second half of this year.
According to SR Technopack, ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) film is the most used as a high barrier film used in food packaging. In particular, EVOH film used in Korea is entirely dependent on imports, and the products of two Japanese companies monopolize 100% of the market.
In this field, SR Technopack realized the need to reduce costs due to the market monopoly structure of Japanese products and environmental problems that were difficult to recycle, and embarked on R&D for new materials.
From October 2015, for about three years, we focused on the development of technology that supplemented water resistance to polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) material with excellent oxygen barrier function. It invested 20 billion won in development cost alone.
'GB-8', which the company has registered for a patent, is a technology that can create high-barrier materials by itself when applied to materials that require oxygen barrier in the form of a solution. By applying GB-8 to the packaging film, it is effective for product commercialization.
The company predicted that the demand for cutting-edge packaging technology for food and beverage packaging, distribution, and cooking will increase as the HMR market grows rapidly. Packaging containers for past products have expanded to functional areas that can shorten cooking time or cook in a microwave oven without additional cooking equipment, and high barrier film has become more important.
An official from SR Technopack said, “GB-8 is currently only applied to instant rice and cup coffee products, but its excellent oxygen barrier properties and ease of recycling due to the application of a single material have a wide range of applications. It can also be applied as a protective film to enhance the durability of this necessary electronic device.”
SR Technopack is a subsidiary of Samryung Corporation. Samryung Trading Co., Ltd. was established in 1980 and succeeded in localizing 'carton pack', a beverage packaging container that was entirely dependent on imports at the time. In 2012, it acquired Esaeng Technopack, a specialized food packaging company, and changed its name to SR Technopack.

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