Alternative foods include products made with plant-based ingredients, microorganisms, edible insects, and cell-cultured materials as primary components that serve as substitutes for animal-derived elements. These alternatives are intended to mirror traditional foods in form, taste, and texture. Typically, "alternative foods" focus primarily on replacing animal proteins and can be categorized as plant-based alternatives, cell-cultured foods, microbe-fermented foods, and insect-based foods.
Plant-based alternatives use proteins extracted from plants or seaweed to make products such as plant-based meat and seafood. Cell-cultured foods involve the cultivation of animal stem cells to produce products such as cultured meat, seafood, and dairy products. Microbe-fermented foods use bacterial cultures, microorganisms, and yeast to replicate the taste of meat or fats and replace proteins and fats. Insect-based foods use edible insects such as crickets, grasshoppers, and mealworms, available in various forms such as tablets, powders, or snacks.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the domestic market for alternative foods consist of 239 companies in 2022, comprising 178 (74.5%) domestic producers and 61 (25.5%) importers. The dominant types of alternative foods in the domestic market include processed tofu products, miscellaneous processed products (such as plant-based meat patties), ready-to-eat foods, and mixed beverages. Major companies in South Korea are actively involved in the development of plant-based meat products, such as Shinsegae Food's Better MEAT, Lotte's Nature Zero MEAT, Pulmuone's PLANT SPIRED, and CJ CheilJedang's PLANTABLE.
Local companies such as Seawith, CellMEAT, Tissen Bio Farm and others are involved in the cell-cultured food sector. Recently, large corporations have been in partnership with cell culture meat companies in an effort to intensify their business ventures. Seawith, which focuses on cultivating seaweed-based meat, has introduced its "Welldone" brand and plans to commercialize cultured meat products. CellMEAT, a startup focused on cell-cultured seafood, has developed alternative foods using stem cells derived from Dokdo shrimp. Companies such as SK and INTAKE are close to commercializing microbe-fermented foods. In the insect-based food segment, startups and major players in the food industry are gradually expanding. For example, Hanmi Pharm has developed a meat substitute using protein extracted from edible insects for spaghetti sauce, while Edible Bug offers snacks and shakes made from edible insect ingredients.
The alternative food market is expected to experience continued growth worldwide, driven by increased attention on sustainable food sources due to the soy food crisis, escalating health concerns, and advancements in food technology.