Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang's overseas food business revenue neared 50 percent of total sales last year, as the company expanded its K-food footprint beyond North America into Europe and other global markets.
CJ CheilJedang announced Monday that its 2024 revenue, excluding CJ Logistics, dipped slightly by 0.1 percent to 17.87 trillion won ($12.29 billion). However, operating profit soared by 26 percent to 1.03 trillion won, fueled by robust overseas growth.
The core food business saw a 0.8 percent revenue increase, reaching 11.35 trillion won, though operating profit declined by 5.3 percent to 620.1 billion won. While domestic food sales fell by 1.8 percent to 5.77 trillion won, overseas sales grew by 3.6 percent to 5.58 trillion won.
Over the past five years, CJ CheilJedang’s overseas food business revenue has skyrocketed by 77 percent, climbing from 3.15 trillion won in 2019. The proportion of overseas revenue also expanded from 39 percent to 49.2 percent of total sales.
The company continues to strengthen its presence in key regions, including North America, Europe and Australia. Sales of its global strategic products have seen significant increases, with kimchi up 38 percent, instant rice products up 22 percent and mandu products up 18 percent.
North America remains CJ CheilJedang’s largest overseas market, accounting for 84 percent of total overseas sales, with revenue reaching 4.71 trillion won.
Bibigo Mandu, the region’s top-selling product, maintained a dominant lead, outselling the second-largest dumpling brand by more than threefold. Schwan’s flagship pizza brand, Red Baron, further strengthened its market leadership.
CJ CheilJedang's annual sales in Europe surpassed 100 billion won for the first time, since it entered the market in the late 2010s. The company has accelerated its entry into new markets like France and Spain while expanding product availability through major European retail chains.
In Australia, CJ CheilJedang successfully expanded its retail footprint beyond popular supermarket chain Woolworths to include Coles and IGA. Its bibigo products are now available in 80 percent of the country’s major retail stores.
"We will accelerate the expansion of K-food worldwide with the launch of a new North American Asian food plant in South Dakota in 2027 and the operation of a European plant in Hungary in 2026," a CJ CheilJedang official said.
Looking ahead, CJ CheilJedang aims to globalize its "mega-hit products" further, including its Gourmet Sobaba Chicken and Bibigo Whole Shrimp Mandu.
By Kim Hae-yeon (hykim@heraldcorp.com)
