Samsung Electronics is gearing up to enter the global Food Tech market by integrating its latest wearable device, the Galaxy Ring, with its cooking recommendation platform, Samsung Food. The Galaxy Ring, unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona last February, is a new addition to Samsung’s lineup, with specific details about its functions, pricing, and release date still under wraps.
According to a reliable source within Samsung Electronics, as of Mar. 19, discussions have been ongoing between the company’s MX and Consumer Electronics departments regarding business strategies that integrate the Galaxy Ring with Samsung Food, Samsung home appliances, and Samsung’s e-Grocery Store. The central idea revolves around Samsung Food recommending personalized diets based on real-time health data collected by the Galaxy Ring. This data includes calorie consumption and Body Mass Index (BMI), enabling tailored recipes and dietary suggestions.
The source further explained, “With the Galaxy Ring, Samsung Food will create customized diet plans, while Samsung Food, in tandem with Samsung refrigerators equipped with Samsung AI Vision, will analyze fridge contents and suggest cookable dishes and recipes. Cooking instructions for personalized recipes will be directly sent to Samsung ovens, eliminating the need for manual temperature or time settings. Additionally, Samsung refrigerators will automatically arrange for insufficient ingredients to be delivered through the Samsung e-Grocery Store.”
Since acquiring the world’s largest food recipe-sharing app, Whisk, in 2019, Samsung Electronics introduced the AI-enhanced Samsung Food app in August last year, now available in 104 countries and supporting eight languages. At the time of its launch, Park Chan-woo, the former head of Home IoT Business at Samsung Electronics, stated, “Samsung Food will act as a ‘nutritionist in hand,’ offering highly personalized dining experiences. It will become a core service differentiator integrated with Samsung home appliances.”
Considering the Galaxy Ring as the final puzzle piece in completing its ‘nutritionist in hand’ project seems logical for Samsung. Unlike the traditional Galaxy Watch, its ring-shaped design allows for 24-hour close-to-body wear and boasts higher accuracy in collecting user health data. Moreover, with fewer components than the Galaxy Watch, it holds the potential for a more accessible price point, thus expanding its reach to the general public.
Before the release of the Galaxy Ring, Samsung Electronics experimented with a food recommendation service utilizing the Galaxy Watch. Since April last year, Samsung collaborated with Hyundai Green Food to provide a senior-friendly meal recommendation service based on user bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) data collected by the Galaxy Watch. The recommended senior-friendly meal items were directly purchasable through Samsung.com’s e-Grocery Store.
Samsung Food app users have exceeded one million (based on app download numbers) six months after its release. According to Emergen Research, the global Food Tech market, valued at $220.3 billion in 2019, is projected to grow by 55.4% to reach $342.5 billion by 2027. A domestic electronics industry insider commented, “With the release of the Galaxy Ring and its integration with Samsung Food, the Samsung Food user base is expected to increase significantly worldwide. Samsung Electronics could potentially expand and integrate food delivery services globally.”
