The Sales Front Moves to Experiential Spaces

K-beauty companies targeting the Japanese market are changing their strategies, concluding that online advertising alone has limits in converting interest into purchases and instead increasing points of contact where consumers can try products firsthand. eBay Japan opened a permanent experiential space in Shibuya spanning two floors and a total of about 120 pyeong, creating a structure that reconnects sampling experiences with online reviews. This is an attempt to reinforce the traffic of a platform with 30 million members through offline trust.

This shift is occurring because consumers no longer see cosmetics and health supplements as separate categories, but are moving toward managing both the inside and outside of the body together. As of the first half of this year, inner beauty sales have grown by an average of 110% annually over the past three years, and distributors are responding by strengthening experiences and curation, while brands are expanding their portfolios from beauty into wellness.

The Functional Ingredient Business Filling the Gap Left by New Drug Development

Bio companies have concluded that it is difficult to sustain cash flow through new drug development alone, given the long timelines required for clinical trials and approvals, and are therefore quickly connecting their proprietary technologies to health functional foods and ingredient businesses. Caregen’s 2025 health functional food sales were 5.6 billion won, while AngioLab said sales of health functional food ingredients accounted for about 44% of its total revenue last year. This can be read as a move to commercialize research outcomes early and diversify long-term development risk.

In this process, the core of competitiveness lies not in simple formulation, but in securing proprietary ingredients and validation data. COSMAX NBT had application technologies for women’s vaginal health ingredients registered as patents in four countries; a material derived from edible insects was recognized as a functional ingredient that helps maintain muscle strength; and Nongshim’s collagen health supplement was listed in Cial Innovation Selection 2026. This shows that functional foods are no longer just supplementary products, but are becoming industrial businesses that convert technological assets into revenue.

Regulatory and Safety Management Realignment

As the market expands, the focus of regulation is also rapidly shifting from supporting growth to managing safety and labeling. Reports of adverse cases involving health functional foods reached a total of 18,693 cases, while the number of cases involving misleading advertisements for general foods rose 87.47%, from 3,864 in 2022 to 7,244 in 2025. This has increased the need to strengthen both information systems that help consumers make choices and post-market monitoring.

Meanwhile, the government and local authorities are approaching regulation not by simply reducing it across the board, but by identifying items that can be changed through real-world testing. In the Jeonbuk Special Regulatory Free Zone for Functional Foods, officials are testing the use of unregistered ingredients in general foods and a shared production facility model. The design aims to reduce the initial investment burden on startups and small and medium-sized companies while accumulating safety data to support future institutional improvements.

The Everyday Spread of Health Consumption and Expanding Boundaries

Health-related industries are no longer confined to hospitals or pharmacies, but are spreading across everyday life, including exercise, food, digital services, and local events. In cases such as the 1st National Park Golf Tournament for Korean Native Beef, food consumption promotion is being combined with recreational sports, and with the establishment of the guidelines for approval and review of professional-use digital medical device software, software-based health management is also accelerating its incorporation into the institutional system.

The significance of this trend is that health is no longer just about buying a single product, but is becoming a form of complex consumption combining experience and data, functional ingredients, distribution channels, and regulatory trust. For companies, this opens opportunities to secure broader touchpoints, but for consumers, the risks of information asymmetry and exaggerated marketing are also growing, making verification and the responsibility to explain far more important than before.