This study aims to explore whether a firm’s financial sustainability is enhanced by open innovation especially after a global financial crisis. There are few studies on the relationship between open innovation and financial sustainability. This study aimed to fill the literature gap by analyzing the change in the financial ratio according to the increase or decrease in open innovation. We used a case study method regarding large Korean food firms. Korea is a latecomer in the food industry, which is driven by large companies. This study is meaningful for financial sustainability studies of countries with a lack of resources and small market size, which require open innovation. The findings of this study are as follows: The most preferred alliance strategy of large food firms is joint research. In order to secure raw materials and markets, open innovation was actively conducted abroad, which increased growth and profitability. However, a firm which rarely adopts open innovation could grow steadily through internal strategies. On the other hand, although relatively many open innovations have been used, growth and profitability could decrease. Firms with sufficient absorptive capacity strengthen financial sustainability through open innovation.

Since small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in economic development, the government implements various supports. Nevertheless, SMEs have difficulties in gaining a competitive advantage in the market owing to lack of capital and capacity. Accordingly, SMEs try to secure a competitive advantage through innovation. Government support is necessary for the innovation of SMEs, and it is essential for food SMEs as well. Whether government support for firms can affect firm’s innovation is still a matter of debate. In particular, it is necessary to empirically investigate the relationship between government support and innovation for SMEs in latecomers to the food industry such as Korea. Therefore, this study conducted an empirical study on the factors that determine the innovation performance of food SMEs by government support. This study used a two-stage regression model. The government support does not unilaterally affect innovation performance, but rather, an endogeneity problem occurs through the interaction between them. This study examined the interrelationships between variables for a clear estimate of government support. Before two-stage regression, this study used the ordered logistic regression to determine the instrumental variables. Each instrumental variable was estimated for the seven types of government support that are normally implemented. The result suggests that the government certification support is effective in improving the innovation performance of food SMEs. This study is useful to establish innovation strategies for supporting food SMEs’ innovation in late-coming countries.

This study examines the influence of government support, research and development (R&D) investment and cooperation networks on sustainable innovation performance of the medium-sized food firms in South Korea. Climate change, population growth, lifestyle change and consumer demands for new products allow firms to explore innovation for sustainable growth. In the food industry, where various stakeholders are involved in the value chain, government support, R&D investment and cooperation are affecting firms’ sustainable performance. However, there are few empirical studies that examine the relationship among them, especially regarding medium-sized food firms. This study aimed to analyze data regarding Korean food firms through a structural equation model. To overcome data scarcity, this study collected new data for 67 medium-sized food firms. The data is matched with the firms’ 10-year data on management, innovation performance, and cooperation networks. This study can contribute to filling the literature gap by exploring what innovation strategies should be used to improve food SMEs’ innovation performance in the latecomer countries, which have developed their food industries relatively recently.

The challenge in the edible insect industry is to reverse consumers’ aversion to insects, which is a barrier to their consumption. This requires innovation by users rather than producers. This study aimed to present how edible insects could be promoted as medical foods from the health professionals and caregivers’ perspective. By analyzing the characteristics of the medical foods market, this study found a niche market and plan to develop medical foods using edible insects as an alternative to meet the needs of consumers. The survey participants were caregivers, nurses, and doctors as providers of medical foods. Based on the survey results, this study proposed strategies to reduce consumers’ aversion to edible insects and increase their consumption. To promote insect medical foods, it is required to hold frequent insect-related events and use clean raw materials.

In order to improve the health status of adolescents, studies are needed to illuminate the essence of their general and dietary lifestyle. Thus, we conducted this study to verify meaningful relationships between adolescent usage of social media (USM), which plays an important role in their life, their food consumption behavior (FCB), and their dietary satisfaction. This study used two analysis methods: t-tests and structural equation modeling (SEM). This study verified whether there was a significant difference in adolescent FCB depending on their USM using t-tests. This study proposes that the following FCBs showed significant differences between users and non-users of social media in adolescents: a tendency to try new types of food (t = 2.134, p < 0.05), a tendency to avoid foods with harmful risks such as suspected spoilage (t = 3.513, p < 0.001), a tendency to eat bread or fruit for a simple breakfast (t = −3.893, p < 0.001), and a tendency to often use home meal replacements (HMR), eat out or have food delivered (t = −3.245, p < 0.01). Furthermore, this study used SEM to verify the causal relationship between adolescent USM and their dietary satisfaction. According to the results of SEM, adolescents’ USM mediated by the FCB of preferring convenience fully mediates the negative relationship between adolescent USM and their dietary satisfaction (p < 0.01). It is necessary to reverse the situation in which adolescent dietary satisfaction decreases as their FCB of preferring convenience increases. Government regulations for food companies and autonomous efforts for quality improvements on their part are needed.

In the science and technology-based biopharmaceutical industry, the gap between advanced countries and developing countries is large. What is interesting recently is that a latecomer such as Korea in the biopharmaceutical industry has an opportunity to make a quantum jump through new to a business model. This study investigated latecomer firms’ catching up with advanced European and American firms in the biopharmaceutical industry, focusing on the cases of Celltrion and Samsung Biologics, which are representative Korean biopharmaceutical firms. In terms of profitability, as determined by EBITDA margin, Samsung Biologics has overtaken Lonza and Catalent. In terms of firm value, Samsung Biologics has overtaken Catalent. Celltrion surpassed all firms in 2017 and 2018, however it has been caught up by Catalent since 2020. In the Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) management, Korean firms ranked lower grades than European and American firms. The driving force of the catching-up strategy revealed by this study is as follows: (1) utilize changes in the industrial structure and environment, (2) maximize the capabilities of the innovation system, (3) make strategic choices and (4) secure an independent and stable position in the relevant field.