Sikhye, a sweet Korean traditional beverage made of fermented rice and malt, has gained popularity. The ordinary Sikhye is slightly cloudy in color as the floating grains of rice sink to the bottom. Overseas, there are often instances of showing distaste for floating rice grains and for dull colored sikhye. Sejun Food Co., Ltd. succeeded in developing technology that can compensate for the shortcomings of Sikhye. It is expanding the overseas export market with a new concept of sikhye beverage, ‘Organic clear Sikhye without rice grains’.

#Entering the global market with the pride of the Master of Sikhye
'Sejun Haneul Chung Sweet Rice Drink' has no rice grains and is more transparent in color than the existing Sikhye products, so even foreigners who are new to Sikhye can enjoy it. The caloric content is only 65kcal per 125ml, and the sterilized packaging allows it to be stored for 18 months at room temperature without any change in quality.

Moon Wan-ki, CEO of SejunFood, said, “Our products are different from other drinks that are sweetened with artificial sweeteners and liquid fructose. The natural sweetness made with malt sufficiently gives it product differentiation. Sweet taste, healthy image, and even rice grains have been removed to suit foreign tastes. Incorporating sophisticated packaging design has incurred continued import inquiries from over 10 countries, including China, the United States, and Southeast Asia.”

For rice, the main raw material, they use rice produced in Yeoju and Icheon, which are the superior quality rice-cultivated areas; and for malt, they use only sun-dried malt produced in Gyeongsangbuk-do. CEO Moon was designated as a Korean food master and received HACCP certificate. In March this year, they are expected to receive Halal certification and exports to Malaysia and the Middle East will increase significantly.

#Excellent taste produced with Korean traditional methods
In the manufacturing process of Sikhye, first the raw materials are carefully selected from contract cultivated Gyeonggi rice and pure Korean malt. Only the highest-quality rice is carefully selected and washed 5 times or more with clean water to have the most delicious rice grains. Next, make hard rice, then filter high-quality malt, and then mix hard rice with malt. It is made without additional preservatives after going through the traditional method of saccharifying for a long time. It is characterized by its healthy quality and by retaining the rich and clean taste of the ingredients. Such traditional method is time-consuming and cumbersome, but it’s indispensable for making malt with rich flavors. With its excellent taste and quality, the response of local consumers in the exporting countries is getting bigger and bigger. CEO Moon Wan-ki said, “We are constantly pursuing a global strategy to captivate the tastes of the world beyond the korean market.”

Sikhye is a traditional Korean beverage with sweet taste and unique piquant aroma of ginger. It is made by fermenting rice in water brewed with malt powder. It is a sweet beverage made by fermenting rice in malt, and is usually served as a dessert. It is also called Dansul or Gamju. It is sikhye if it contains grains of rice; and gamju with the rice grains filtered out. Sikhye must contain malt made from barley sprouts. Malt contains a lot of amylase, a diastatic enzyme, so it is an old custom to have sikhye as a dessert after a heavy greasy meal on festive days. Koreans enjoy sikhye after meals or normally as a health drink.

SejunFood CO.,LTD.
Tel : +82-31-761-4564
M : +82-10-9822-6488
E-mail : webmaster@sejunfood.co.kr
web : www.sejunfood.co.kr