Sempio said on the 15th that it has established a nonprofit foundation, the Sempio Woori Mat Food Culture Foundation, to mark its 80th anniversary. Park Jin-sun, Sempio's chief executive, will serve as chair.
The foundation will focus on three areas: broadening participation in cooking culture, researching Korea's traditional fermented food culture and promoting Korean cuisine globally.
It plans first to run education programs and campaigns designed to let people from children to adults experience the pleasure of cooking for themselves in daily life. The foundation will also pursue research and curriculum development to highlight the value of fermented food culture, including traditional pastes and sauces such as doenjang, a fermented soybean paste, and soy sauce.
Overseas, the foundation will teach recipes that local Korean restaurants can put to practical use and carry out support programs aimed at promoting the taste and quality of Korean food. Working with Korean Cultural Centers abroad and other partners, it will also create opportunities for foreigners to experience Korean food and dining culture firsthand.
Specialists in education and food culture will take part in running the foundation. Board members include Lee Jae-jeong, former superintendent of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education; Chung Hye-kyung, professor emerita of food and nutrition at Hoseo University; chef Cho Hee-sook; and Kim Mi-sook, former director of the Korean Food Culture Center at the Korean Food Promotion Institute.
"We will work to share with society the research findings on Korean flavors and the food culture experience we have accumulated, and to create an environment where anyone can enjoy cooking," a foundation official said. "We will continue to pursue a range of public-interest projects to introduce the excellence of Korean food culture abroad and to help people around the world enjoy Korean food in their everyday lives."