With over 6 million Korean tourists visiting Japan annually, Japanese cuisine has become an integral part of Korean culture, shared seamlessly through media and social networks. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity for Korea’s food industry. As food transitions from being purely a matter of taste to a reflection of culture and lifestyle, consumer trends increasingly favor spending on international cuisine and small luxuries. Dining establishments are also evolving from mere places to eat and drink into experiential spaces that emphasize visuals, concepts, and artistic presentation.

APU collaborates with Japan’s Chefoodo to discover food content optimized for this shifting market and to support licensing projects. The goal of these food licensing projects is to create “cult brands” that preserve the essence of taste while offering extraordinary experiences.

ChefooDo, which means “Chef acts as food,” is a corporation established in 2017 with the aim of organizing chefs with a philosophy on Japanese food culture and food ingredients and developing the food culture and food industry. ChefooDo, which consists of the best star chefs, food researchers, and restaurant business officials in each field, is one of the representative organizations in the Japanese F&B field and conducts various activities such as food development, corporate cooperation projects, government support projects, food education, seminars, and food culture events.

Core Contents
Food IP, Restaurant brands, Packaged foods, Sauces

Expanded Contents
Cooking tools, Tableware, Food robots

Collaborative Contents
Chef exchanges, Education and training programs, Exhibitions

Dining Establishments
We comprehensively analyze the competitiveness and value of restaurants, supporting brand licensing for global franchise (FC) ventures.

Food IP
We manage IP projects that monetize branding opportunities through recipes from renowned restaurants, long-established stores (shinise), and celebrity chefs.

Food Distribution
We distribute food and beverage products, sauces, ingredients, and kitchenware. Key items include HMR (Home Meal Replacement) and meal kits developed in collaboration with renowned chefs or based on signature restaurant recipes.

Talent Development
We provide training programs, workshops, site visits, and online lectures for F&B professionals. We also develop chef membership programs and talent management systems to promote knowledge sharing and networking.

Culinary Exchange
Through regional specialty fairs, tasting events, and cooking classes, we promote diverse food cultures that reflect local preferences, environments, histories, and economic diversity, fostering increased consumption of regional specialties.