−60°C

Time, held

Korean seafood and Hanwoo beef, frozen the moment they are landed or dressed. Recovered LNG cold energy does the base refrigeration, with −60°C electric freezers running alongside it. The electricity is our own, from renewables.

Hadong Plant
To core temperature
30min
Drip loss on thawing
≤3%
Ultra-low temp storage
2,808t
Products trialled
100+
About us

We freeze Korean seafood and Hanwoo beef at −60°C and sell it ourselves

We are not a warehouse for hire, and we are not a contract packer. Sourcing, freezing, certification, OEM production and export are all ours.

We started in ultra-low temperature food in 2014, and are now building a processing centre with 2,808 tonnes of storage at the Daesong industrial complex in Hadong.

In business since
2014
Plant
Hadong, Korea

More about the company

What we do ourselves
Sourcing
Direct from South Sea grounds and certified abattoirs
Ultra-low freezing
−60°C, core temperature within 30 minutes
Certification
Batch records and QSF SUPERFREEZE
OEM · private label
Manufacturing under the buyer’s brand
Export
Loaded directly at Gwangyang and Busan

Australian wagyu is on the menu in Korean restaurants from Seoul to Los Angeles.

Not because it is better than Hanwoo. Because Hanwoo could not get there, and wagyu could. That was never a question of livestock. It was a question of freezing.

Two ways Korean food reaches the world today. Both of them cost you.

Premium Korean food commands its price at home and loses it on the way out. Until now there were two options, and neither of them preserved the product.

Chilled Conventional frozen −18°C QSF −60°C
Shelf lifeAbout 3 days3–6 months, declining3–5× conventional frozen
TransportAir onlySeaSea
Drip on thawingNone5–25%3% or less
Freezing costHighUp to 10% of unit costReduced by LNG cold energy
How it landsDowngraded if the chain breaksSold as ordinary frozenHolds its premium

Ice crystals grow largest between −1°C and −5°C, and that is where cell walls are destroyed. What decides quality is not how cold you go, but how fast you cross that band.

−60°C is not a new technology.
Doing it at a cost that works is.

The electricity barrier

Ultra-low temperature cannot avoid electricity. Pulling heat out fast takes power, and the plant itself runs on it. But carrying −60°C on electricity alone draws several times a conventional cold store, and on lower-value products freezing alone can reach 10% of unit cost. That is why it stayed with high-value species such as bluefin tuna.

Cold energy going to waste

LNG arrives in Korea as a liquid at −162°C and is regasified before entering the pipeline network. The cold energy released is equivalent to the annual output of a nuclear power unit, and most of it goes into the sea. We use it as the base refrigeration for both freezing and storage, with electric freezers carrying the rest.

One energy system

We made the electricity we cannot avoid almost free. LNG cold energy, solar generation, battery storage and fuel cells are run as one energy system: the cold is recovered waste and the power is our own. Running at −60°C costs us almost nothing in energy.

Korea had no land-based ultra-low temperature food plant of this kind. Not because the technology was missing, but because the economics were. Gyeongnam QSF is the first in the country to build the energy system that solves both the cold and the power.

Four products, one temperature standard

Bluefin tuna

Bluefin tuna

Frozen to −60°C on landing. Sashimi grade retained.

Mackerel sashimi after thawing

Mackerel

Frozen on landing. Still sashimi grade after six months.

Alaska pollock

Alaska pollock

Long storage without structural damage.

Frozen meat

Hanwoo beef

Loin and striploin. Below −50°C, myoglobin oxidation is suppressed.

See all products
Hadong Plant under construction
Construction in progress
Hadong Plant site plan
Site plan on completion

Built next to an LNG terminal

The plant sits close to the South Sea fishing grounds and draws its cold energy from a nearby LNG terminal. That cold is the base refrigeration for both freezing and storage, with −60°C electric freezers running alongside it. Raw material reaches the freezing chambers within hours; finished goods are loaded at Gwangyang Port without inland transport.

Built area
10,641 m²
High-speed freezers
4 chambers
−60°C cold stores
2 chambers
LNG throughput
30,000 t/yr
About the plant

Market access

Access for Hanwoo beef depends on bilateral quarantine agreements and differs by country. We confirm the status of your destination market in writing before any order is placed.

Market Status Notes
Hong KongOpenLargest market for Hanwoo beef today
SingaporeOpenOrigin conditions to be confirmed
MongoliaOpenCurrently shipping
ThailandIn progressQuarantine negotiation at final stage
Malaysia · Indonesia · Middle EastHalal requiredOpen once halal certification is in place

Tell us the product and the market, and we will send specifications and lead times

We work with overseas buyers, distributors and OEM · private label partners. Plant visits can be arranged once the facility is in operation.

Make an enquiry