"Home Meal Consumers Seek Eomuk"…CJ CheilJedang Aims to Capture Market with Product Renewal

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] As the culture of having meals at home spreads, interest in fish cake, a cooking ingredient, is rapidly increasing. In response, CJ CheilJedang announced on the 11th that it has launched renewed products with upgraded taste quality for ‘Samho Busan Eomuk’ and ‘Samho Eomuk Odeng Han Geureut’.

Since its launch in 1985, CJ CheilJedang has led the market growth by promoting the premiumization and diversification of fish cakes, and plans to once again lead the market revival with products tailored to consumer demand.

The renewed ‘Samho Busan Eomuk Gold’ achieves the characteristic golden-brown appearance of Busan fish cake by frying twice at an optimal temperature. The taste quality has been improved by optimizing the fish paste blending ratio, preserving the authentic taste of Busan fish cake. This reflects consumer perception that ‘Busan fish cake has a yellow color and a savory fish flavor.’ Additionally, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Samho Eomuk, the package design has been revamped with a retro concept.

The convenience store’s representative container-type product, ‘Samho Eomuk Odeng Han Geureut,’ has also upgraded its taste quality. Inspired by the fact that radish is an essential ingredient in odeng soup enjoyed at home or street stalls, radish was added along with five types of fish cakes and konjac to create a deeper and refreshing broth flavor.

The renewed products are available for purchase at offline stores such as CJ The Market and large supermarkets, with Samho Busan Eomuk Gold priced at 2,180 KRW (315g) and Samho Eomuk Odeng Han Geureut at 2,700 KRW (360g). CJ CheilJedang plans to continue efforts to ensure the fish cake market sustains growth through various marketing activities.

Meanwhile, fish cake, known as a national side dish, steadily increased in consumption, growing to a scale exceeding 280 billion KRW in 2015. However, the market entered a maturity phase due to a decrease in home cooking caused by increased consumption of HMR (Home Meal Replacement) products. The market remained stagnant for several years, recording about 270 billion KRW last year. However, with more time spent at home due to remote work and online schooling, the fish cake market reached approximately 36.3 billion KRW in March, a 30.8% growth compared to the same period last year. Considering that fish cake sales typically decline from March as the weather warms, this is an unusual occurrence.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.