Free Salt Kimchi · Low Salt Kimchi · GRBM MetabolomeWhere salt once worked,
life works now.

Q: How do I ask about the technology transaction?

Leave your organization and interest in the form and we will send the GRBM Complete Edition. Under an NDA, original records and the process can be reviewed on site in Uljin.

Kimchi that completes lactic-acid metabolism without salt, below the 1.5% salt that conventional lactic fermentation needs. Wooyoung Nam began it as a low-salt kimchi in Uljin, Korea, in 2010 and took it to 0.0%. It is the first technology of GRBM.

See the technology See the record

0.0%salt-free design, adjustable in 0.3% steps

10⁸CFU/g or more, about 100× conventional kimchi

3countries where the low-salt patent was granted

≈30,000tasters in 10 countries and regions (2013–2018)

2.36×willingness to pay vs. regular kimchi (company survey)

01 · Why

The line everyone stopped at: 1.5% salt

In ordinary kimchi, salt holds back spoilage microbes while lactic acid bacteria grow. Lower the salt and kimchi sours fast, softens and loses its guard against pathogens. So research worldwide has looked for ways to use a little less salt.

Lower the salt2.5%

0.0%0.51.01.52.02.53.0%

1.5% = the salt limit of conventional lactic fermentation

Conventional kimchi · salt-brined

Fermenting normally

Salt holds spoilage microbes back. Typical range 2–4%.

Kimchi GRBM · Vital Probiotics

Above design maximum

Kimchi GRBM is designed for 0.0–0.78%. It does not need this much salt.

Sodium intake fell 37% in 15 years, yet is still 1.5× the WHO limit

Average daily sodium intake in Korea (mg)

Source: KNHANES via MFDS and KDCA; 2025 is provisional. 2012–2015 and 2017 are interpolated.

13.9%

Napa cabbage kimchi is Korea's second-largest source of sodium, after salt itself.

Korean J Community Nutr, 2023

560→280mg

In MFDS's “Samsam” low-sodium canteen pilot, the kimchi in a meal went from 560 mg to 280 mg of sodium.

미디어생활, 2014.12

10.8g

World average daily salt intake, double the WHO limit of 5 g.

WHO, 2023

Year	Sodium policy, Korea and world	Meanwhile, Wooyoung Nam
2026	2025 intake 3,043 mg (provisional), just above the 3,000 mg goal	Opens the GRBM·VPMI technology transaction
2020	World Hypertension League award for population sodium reduction	Founds Elan Vital BIO
2016	2nd national sodium plan (goal 3,500 mg)	China and Japan patents; joins a Korea–China kimchi export MOU in Beijing
2014	MFDS begins certifying low-sodium canteens	MBC: “Low-salt kimchi breaks the China barrier” (0.2% salinity)
2013	Salty-taste grading debated; National Assembly salt campaign	Launches 0.7% low-salt kimchi; tasting at the Assembly campaign
2012	National sodium-reduction movement launched (2010 intake then reported as 4,878 mg)	Patent registered; venture status via KIBO technology evaluation

02 · Technology

Instead of salt, living lactic acid bacteria

GRBM (Green Red BIO Metabolome) is a metabolome platform built by plants (Green) and microbes (Red) together, and its first technology is salt-free probiotic kimchi. VPMI-CM, added at the mixing stage, activates the lactic acid bacteria that live in the cabbage and plants (Vital Probiotics). They outcompete spoilage microbes and metabolize the kimchi, so no salt brining and no chemical washing are needed.

Typical factory kimchi · 7 steps

Make brine
Salt-brine cabbage
Chlorine wash
Broth and filling
Mix
Cold fermentation
Pack

Kimchi GRBM · 5 steps

Rinse cabbage
Broth and filling
Mix + VPMI-CM
Cold maturing · lactic metabolism
Pack

	Conventional	Kimchi GRBM
Salinity	Must stay above the salt limit; 2–4% typical	0.0–0.3% recommended, 0.78% max
How it works	Salt suppresses spoilage microbes	Vital Probiotics outcompete them and metabolize
Lactic acid bacteria	≈10⁶ CFU/g	≥10⁸ CFU/g
Brining · chemical wash	Required	None
Dietary fibre	Soluble fibre lost in brining	Soluble and insoluble fibre kept with the bacteria
Raw materials	Fresh vegetables	Fresh plants plus dried plants, herbs and seafood
Extends to	Side dish	Beverages, cosmetic actives, infant and liquid foods

2010 – 2018

1st generation · wild-herb low-salt and salt-free kimchi

A plant-based catalyst made from about 32 plant materials, applied to low-salt kimchi. This kimchi was the first GRBM formulation people ate.

2018 –

GRBM · VPMI-CM and Vital Probiotics

The principle found in kimchi, widened to fresh plants of every kind: a plant–microbe metabolome platform.

3rd-generation application

3rd generation · dried plants and mixed materials

Instead of fresh plants only, a broth-based metabolic design brings dried plants, dried medicinal herbs, seafood and other materials into the Fermentabolism™ process.

VPMI-CM Technology is based on Fermentabolism™, a metabolism-driven fermentation process capable of producing ultra-low-salt and salt-free kimchi through the generation of Vital Probiotics.

About one third of the sodium of store-bought kimchi

Market average643 mg

ASaHAn 0.7227 mg

Sodium per 100 g, as printed in the October 2013 product advertisement (market: Korea Consumer Agency, Aug 2013 · ASaHAn 0.7: Korea Food Research Institute, Aug 2013). The line later reached 0.0% salt.

The low-salt kimchi patent: Korea, China, Japan and PCT

A method using low-chloride, high-potassium wild herbs to bring the Na/K ratio of 0.3–1.5% salt kimchi below 1.0. The salt-free (0.0%) VPMI-CM process beyond it is protected as a trade secret.

KR · 201210-1151961Registered 24 May 2012 · lapsed 2021

CN · 2016ZL201280070585.3Granted 15 Jun 2016

JP · 20166034410Granted 30 Nov 2016

PCTWO2013/125762International application

The composition of VPMI-CM is a trade secret. Original records can be inspected on site in Uljin under an NDA.

03 · Proof

Patented, awarded, broadcast

Thirty key records from the kimchi years (2012–2018), each on file as an original or a public article.

2012.12
Venture status through KIBO technology evaluationSeven months after the patent.
2014.01
MFDS official likens 0.7% to breaking the 10-second barrierMBC News Today
2012 · 2016
Patents granted in Korea, China and Japan, and a PCT filingLow-sodium, low-chloride, high-potassium kimchi (China and Japan in force)
2013 · 2016
Samil Culture Award for Science; Minister's CommendationFor science and for Korean cuisine

“Developing a technology that can bring salinity down to 0.7% can be rated on a par with breaking the ‘magic 10-second barrier’ in the 100-metre sprint.”

MFDS division director · MBC News Today, 2014

“The world's first … product to succeed at kimchi fermentation in a salt-free environment”

eToday, report on the Beijing food-safety fair, 17 Jun 2016

“… in the hands of an engineer, a patented low-salt kimchi, rich in lactic acid bacteria even without salt, was born.”

Original on file

2014.09.05Award

Ministry of Public Administration and Security

Original on file

COVERED BYMBC포항MBCMBNKBS2TBCNHK매일신문머니투데이뉴시스이투데이한경비즈니스이데일리행복이 가득한 집

Every original (certificates, patent grants, broadcast captures) can be inspected during on-site due diligence under an NDA. Public articles open from each card.

04 · Industry

Salt-free is what opens the industries

At 0.0% salt, free salt kimchi becomes a raw material for beverages, cosmetics and infant food with no desalting step. That is why the work went past low-salt to salt-free.

0.0%Free Salt Kimchi for babiesMild, gentle ingredients

LOWLow Salt Kimchi for childrenDesigned for young palates

LOWProbiotic mat-kimchiDeep umami

0.0%Free Salt salad kimchi for careA light salad format

LOWLow Salt Kimchi for fitnessFits a training diet

Bio beverages

Adjust only the water and oligosaccharide and the process yields a probiotic kimchi drink. No desalting, so the metabolites stay.

Probiotic drinks US$45.5B (2025) → 100.8B (2035)

Bio-cosmetic actives

Extracts from salt-free kimchi need no desalting step, which the company's records link to pigmentation problems. They lead to cosmetic metabolite actives (GRBM MCM).

Kimchi-microbe cosmetic actives are an active field

Infant nutrition

Designed as a metabolized protein matrix of milk, goat milk, egg, salt-free kimchi and ginseng, freeze-dried.

No added salt · designed to the infant-food sodium limit (≤200 mg per 100 g)

Liquid diets and care food

Low- and no-salt metabolic food designed in care-food formats for seniors and dysphagia diets. No brining step.

Korean care-food market ≈ KRW 3 trillion (2025, aT)

About 30,000 people in 10 countries and regions tasted it first

In tasting studies from 2013 to 2018, willingness to pay was 2.36× that of regular kimchi and liking scored about 20 points higher out of 100 (company survey). It led to exports to Hong Kong and a Korea–China kimchi export MOU in Beijing.

KoreaUSAChinaJapanHong KongItalyUKRussiaTürkiyeAustralia

FOOD · NUTRITIONNestlé

On the company's record, has shown interest in infant and liquid foods built on low-salt kimchi.

BEAUTYCHANEL

On the company's record, took part in developing a core ingredient for its camellia line.

HEALTH FUNCTIONAL FOODGC Green Cross

On the company's record, cooperated on lactic-acid-bacteria health functional foods.

Company names reflect cooperation and interest on the company's record, not an endorsement or a current contract.

05 · Developer

From a warehouse in Uljin to GRBM

GRBM 개발자 남우영 대표(Wooyoung Nam) — Wooyoung Nam · CEO of Elan Vital BIO, developer of GRBM and VPMI

“How can we live a healthy life? Countless questions ran through my head. ASaHAn Good Gimchi is the outcome of all these concerns.”
From the 2013 CEO message

A computer engineer by training, Wooyoung Nam came home to Uljin in January 2010 to care for his sick mother. He turned a cobweb-filled warehouse into an office and studied nature and humans for four years. The ecological systems biology he had pursued since 2005 bore its first fruit there, as a low-salt kimchi.

He sees the Earth, humanity and natural ecosystems as one community of fate (One Health). Seeing plants, their microbes and people as one living unit, a holobiont, grew into GRBM, which connects genome, microbiome and metabolome.

2005
Begins ecological systems biology research
2010
Returns home; first GRBM model built as low-salt kimchi
2012
Patent · Village Enterprise · KIBO venture status
2013
0.7% kimchi launched · Samil Culture Award for Science
2014
HACCP · Korean Food Day pavilion · 0.2% salinity
2016
China and Japan patents · export MOU · Minister's commendation
2020
Founds Elan Vital BIO; advances GRBM
2026
Opens the GRBM·VPMI technology transaction

FAQ

Free salt kimchi, low salt kimchi and GRBM: common questions

How is free salt kimchi different from low salt kimchi?

Low salt kimchi uses less salt; many low-salt products on the market are still around 1.5–2%. Free salt kimchi is designed at 0.0–0.3% with no salt brining, and plant lactic acid bacteria (Vital Probiotics) metabolize it in place of salt.

How can kimchi work without salt?

VPMI-CM, added at mixing, activates the lactic acid bacteria living in the cabbage and plants; they outcompete spoilage microbes and metabolize the kimchi. The process is called Fermentabolism™. The composition of VPMI-CM is a trade secret.

What is GRBM?

GRBM (Green Red BIO Metabolome) is a metabolome platform created by the symbiosis of plants (Green) and microbes (Red). Developed by Wooyoung Nam, it links genome, microbiome and metabolome as one living unit, a holobiont. Salt-free probiotic kimchi is its first technology.

What is a metabolome?

The full set of small molecules a living system makes as it metabolizes, such as organic acids, amino acids and plant compounds. GRBM carries the metabolome that plants and lactic acid bacteria make together.

Where does free salt kimchi go beyond the table?

Free salt kimchi for babies, salt-free salad kimchi for care, probiotic kimchi drinks, bio-cosmetic actives, and ingredients for infant and liquid foods. It starts from needing no desalting step.

How do I ask about the technology transaction?

Leave your organization and interest in the form below and we will send the GRBM Complete Edition. Under an NDA, original records and the process can be reviewed on site in Uljin.

06 · Partnership

We are looking for the one partner to write this technology's next chapter

The transaction covers all transferable GRBM·VPMI rights. Terms are shared directly with the inquiring organization.

InquiryTell us your organization and interest.
MaterialsWe send the GRBM Complete Edition.
NDATo open the original records.
On-site review in UljinSee the process and originals, then negotiate.

Free Salt Kimchi · Low Salt Kimchi · GRBM MetabolomeWhere salt once worked,life works now.

The line everyone stopped at: 1.5% salt

Sodium intake fell 37% in 15 years, yet is still 1.5× the WHO limit

Instead of salt, living lactic acid bacteria

1st generation · wild-herb low-salt and salt-free kimchi

GRBM · VPMI-CM and Vital Probiotics

3rd generation · dried plants and mixed materials

About one third of the sodium of store-bought kimchi

The low-salt kimchi patent: Korea, China, Japan and PCT

Patented, awarded, broadcast

Venture status through KIBO technology evaluation

MFDS official likens 0.7% to breaking the 10-second barrier

Patents granted in Korea, China and Japan, and a PCT filing

Samil Culture Award for Science; Minister's Commendation

Named Agri-Convergence Entrepreneur of the Month

Minister’s Commendation for promoting Korean cuisine

Japanese patent JP 6034410 granted

Signs a Korea–China kimchi export MOU in Beijing

Chinese invention patent ZL 2012 8 0070585.3

No.1 Korea Consumer Satisfaction Index, Kimchi (again in 2017)

Korea Company Grand Awards 2015, Food

Certified Agri-Convergence (6th-sector) business

“Low-salt Probiotic Kimchi” at the Hong Kong LOHAS Kimchi Business Fair

Corporate R&D centre recognized

Good Company & Innovative Technology Award

MBC: “Low-salt kimchi breaks the China barrier” (0.2%)

Feature: Dr. ASaHAn low-salt probiotic kimchi

80% less salt, many times the lactic acid bacteria

Selected for the 6th-Industry Pavilion, Korean Food Day

Top 10 Products, Korea Food Expo consumer panel

Best regional case, Gyeongbuk: the wild-herb low-salt kimchi (awarded to Uljin County)

HACCP designation, napa cabbage kimchi

MFDS official likens 0.7% to breaking the 10-second barrier

Grand Prize, social-economy success cases

Pohang MBC Samil Culture Award, Science & Technology

Low-salt kimchi tasting at the National Assembly sodium campaign

MBN feature: a kimchi of 32 ingredients

Promotion product for Samsung Zipel Asak kimchi refrigerators

Co-brand agreement for ultra-low-salt kimchi

Featured in the MBC Prime documentary

Venture business via KIBO technology-evaluation guarantee

Excellence Award, Superstar V national startup league

Korean patent No. 10-1151961

Designated Village Enterprise