CJ eyes W12tr in North America sales by 2028 as businesses build synergies across region
Korea Herald correspondent
LOS ANGELES — CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun toured KCON LA 2026, held Friday to Sunday, visiting Olive Young's first beauty festival and the K-pop concert itself, as the group presses further into its most important overseas market, the company said Monday.
The trip marks Lee's second visit to the US in three months, following a tour of CJ's major American business sites in May, when he called for closer coordination across the group's food, beauty and entertainment units.
According to the company, Lee carried the same spirit he had three decades ago, when he first willed Korean culture onto the world stage, long before K-pop or K-beauty existed as words.
At the festa, he sampled Bibigo's recently launched kimchi noodles and remarked it "needs a kick," and took in the concert, watching the crowd sing along as its idols took the stage. He also told executives to prioritize enticing American fans to sign up for the company's K-pop streaming platform, Mnet Plus.
The visit makes the point plainly that the US stands as the group's top priority outside Korea.
"CJ is the only company with a portfolio spanning food, entertainment and beauty at this scale operating in the US," CJ Corp. CEO Heo Min-heoi said at a briefing on Saturday. "We will build an ecosystem based on Korean lifestyle experience to speed our expansion into the North American market."
The group revealed its target of reaching 12 trillion won ($8.5 billion) in North American sales by 2028, up from the 8 trillion won it reported last year. The company said the goal hinges on linking its separate business lines for organic growth.
"We want to extend interest in K-content into habitual, repeated consumption of K-food and K-beauty, and let that loop back into offline cultural experiences," CJ America CEO Kim Jin-sik said.
CJ’s US business has grown rapidly in recent years, with cumulative investment in North America reaching 9.7 trillion won by mid-2026. Revenue last year was more than ten times its 2017 level. K-food alone has grown into a $2 billion US market, while K-beauty has reached a similar scale. Its content business has also reached the hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars range.
"We now run 20 food production facilities and 55 CJ Logistics warehouses, and our US workforce exceeds 12,000 employees, with affiliates operating across 33 states,” Kim noted. "Further investment is planned as the company continues to grow.”
By No Kyung-min (minmin@heraldcorp.com)
