CJ Accelerates Push Into U.S. Food Market
CJ held a ‘Global K-Lifestyle Vision’ presentation on August 15 (local time) at the Hilton Glendale in Los Angeles, unveiling its mid-to-long-term growth roadmap.The vision is the concrete outcome of directives issued by CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun during his visit to U.S. operations in May, spec
CJ, a major South Korean conglomerate, is accelerating its push into the U.S. food market, as revealed at a 'Global K-Lifestyle Vision' presentation on August 15 in Los Angeles. This strategic move follows directives from CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun, who visited U.S. operations in May to emphasize "strengthening synergies across business units" and "securing overwhelming competitive advantages."
The Chairman's visit to KCON and Olive Young Festa venues in person over three days highlighted the importance of engaging younger American consumers through K-culture.
North American revenue for CJ has grown from approximately 800 billion won (around $571 million) in 2017 to 8 trillion won (about $5.71 billion) the previous year, a tenfold increase over eight years. This growth is attributed to aggressive investments, including the 1995 DreamWorks investment, and the acquisitions of Schwan’s in 2019 and Fifth Season in 2021. As of the first half of this year, cumulative investments in North America have reached 9.7 trillion won (around $6.93 billion).
CJ plans to leverage its diversified portfolio in food, content, and beauty to build an ecosystem that turns the popularity of the K-wave into a tangible lifestyle experience. The company will intensify its push into the U.S. mainstream food market, starting with Bibigo, and develop products like Hetbahn, chicken, seaweed snacks, kimchi, and K-sauces. Federico Areola, head of CJ Schwan’s Asian Foods Business Unit, emphasized the goal of making Bibigo a global brand.
To further connect with consumers, CJ will focus on a 'Phase 2 growth strategy' that goes beyond brand localization, fostering joint marketing and cross-business collaborations. This approach aims to create a virtuous cycle where interest in K-content leads to repeated consumption of K-food and K-beauty, ultimately feeding back into offline cultural experiences. Kim Jin-sik, President of CJ America, explained that the company will continue to organically connect consumer touchpoints.
Written by urgent.news from BusinessKorea's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
