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The $1.5 million meal boxes powering Team Korea at the Olympics

Published: 10 Feb. 2026, 16:19 Updated: 18 Feb. 2026, 14:44

Chefs hold up meal boxes prepared at the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee’s meal support center in Milan. [KOREAN SPORT & OLYMPIC COMMITTEE]

MILAN — At the Olympic level, diet is part of the game. At the 2026 Winter Games, Korea’s athletes are opting for grilled ribs and kimchi over pizza and pasta as the team leans on familiar meals to sustain performance.

On Monday, inside the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee’s meal support center in Milan, staff moved quickly but carefully, packing braised beef, stir-fried pork belly with kimchi, seasoned anchovies and doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) into plastic containers. By midday, the boxes were ready to be delivered as lunch to Korea’s athletes competing at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Italy is famous for its food, but the menu options in the Olympic Village have posed challenges for some Korean athletes. The meat is often tougher than they are used to, and meals heavy on pizza, pasta and bread grow repetitive over the course of a long competition. Some athletes in certain events even slipped outside the village to buy McDonald’s hamburgers, according to people around the team.

Various breakfast foods are displayed inside the Olympic Village ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 3. [AP/YONHAP]

To avoid that, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee has operated a full Korean meal program from Friday through Feb. 22, providing boxed lunches and dinners every day, following a model it has used at previous international multisport events. The goal is simple: help athletes maintain energy, routine and comfort through familiar food.

This Olympics is spread across multiple host cities, prompting the committee to open meal support centers in Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo and Livigno. Thirty-six staff members were dispatched across the three sites. The response from athletes has been overwhelming, with nearly the entire Korean delegation signing up for the service.

Each meal period produces about 90 meal boxes — roughly 45 in Milan and 25 each in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Livigno.

Chefs prepare meal boxes for athletes at the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee’s meal support center in Milan. [KOREAN SPORT & OLYMPIC COMMITTEE]

The committee allocated 2.2 billion won ($1.5 million) for the program. About half of that went to renting facilities designed to replicate the kitchen environment at the Jincheon National Training Center in North Chungcheong. Another 2 billion won was spent on purchasing fresh local ingredients, with additional costs covering transportation and logistics. Protein portions were increased to meet athletes’ needs — about 700 kilograms (1,540 pounds) of meat are being used during the Games.

Cho Eun-young, a nutritionist from the Jincheon training center stationed in Milan, said customs regulations shaped some of the planning.

“We prepared vegan kimchi because jeotgal [salted seafood] is difficult to clear through customs,” she said. “In some cases, the paperwork alone took six months.”

Cold weather added another variable. For the first time, the committee introduced self-heating meal boxes.

“Because it’s so cold, we were worried the food would cool too quickly,” Cho said. “So we included heating packs.”

Athletes can pour water into a pack placed under the food tray, producing steam similar to a military ration. Closing the lid helps retain heat, even after late training sessions.

A view of the Livigno Snowboarding Stadium in Livigno, Italy, on Feb. 7. [KO BONG-JUN]

Menu planning focused heavily on athlete preferences. Head chef Kim Joong-hyun said meat dishes consistently top the list.

“We heard that athletes really like dishes like braised short ribs and spicy stir-fried pork, so we reflected that in the menu,” he said. “For fresh items like green onions and onions, we sometimes use local leeks or shallots instead."

Athletes say the effort has paid off.

“The Korean meal boxes have been a big help in managing my condition," short track speed skater Shim Suk-hee said.

“I felt energized after eating the braised short ribs. They were so good," Choi Min-jeong added.

The kitchen will also mark the Lunar New Year during the Games, serving traditional holiday foods such as ox bone soup and jeon [savory pancakes]. Wearing chef jackets with the Korean flag stitched onto the sleeve, Kim said the mission goes beyond nutrition.

“We’re trying to make the food taste as close to Korea as possible,” he said. “I hope the athletes feel supported and perform well.”

Korea is not alone in the effort. Japan’s Olympic Committee is also operating a dedicated meal support facility, the G-Road Station, run by food company Ajinomoto.

Correction, Feb. 11, 2026: An earlier version of this article misstated that the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee allocated 22 billion won to the meal program. The correct amount is 2.2 billion won ($1.5 million). The article has been updated to reflect this change.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK LIN, KIM JONG-HO [[email protected]]