CJ CheilJedang Signs Business Agreement with EDGC... Creating a 'Personalized' Health Functional Food Market

From the left, EDGC side: Yang Beom-gyu, Head of Platform Business Division, Kim Hye-jin, Head of Product Development Office, Cho Sung-min, Head of Platform Business Division, Lee Min-seop, CEO; CJ CheilJedang side: Hwang Yoon-il, Head of R&D Planning Office, Oh Jae-seok, Head of Management Support Office, Choi Im-jae, R&D Planning Manager, Jang Seung-hoon, Head of Health Business Division

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] CJ CheilJedang has taken the first step toward creating a ‘personalized’ health functional food market.

On the 13th, CJ CheilJedang announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the day before with EDGC, a Korea-US joint venture between Korea Ewha Medical Foundation and the US company Diagnomics, to jointly develop ‘health functional foods tailored for Koreans.’

This agreement was promoted with the shared intention of proactively developing personalized health functional food products and creating a new market, anticipating growing consumer demand for personalized health functional foods in Korea. The plan is to develop health functional food products tailored for Koreans by utilizing CJ CheilJedang’s over 20 years of accumulated R&D expertise in health functional foods and EDGC’s genetic analysis capabilities and expertise.

Personalized health functional foods are produced by requesting genetic testing from private companies without going through medical institutions, identifying an individual’s genetic characteristics related to health status, nutrients, eating habits, skin, hair, etc., and then customizing the products accordingly. This service allows consumers to intake only the necessary ingredients and prevents side effects such as nutrient overdose. While it is already common in advanced medical countries such as the US, Japan, and Australia, Korea is just beginning to take its first steps.

With this agreement as a milestone, CJ CheilJedang plans to establish a business model within next year where consumers can purchase personalized health functional food products. Through a ‘DTC genetic test,’ consumers will be able to identify the nutrients they need, predict their future health status, and purchase health functional food products tailored to themselves.

CJ CheilJedang also plans to sign an additional agreement within the year with an online platform company that recommends products based on individual health status. The goal is to provide the most optimized health functional food products not only through genetic diagnosis but also through consultations with experts regarding individual diets, health conditions, and health goals.

To commemorate this agreement, CJ CheilJedang will hold a promotion at its food specialty mall CJ The Market at the end of this month, allowing consumers to receive genetic testing through EDGC to purchase products suited to themselves. Hwang Yoon-il, Vice President and Head of R&D Planning at CJ CheilJedang, said, “We have joined hands with EDGC, which possesses core competencies, to provide a higher level of value for consumer health and lifestyle,” adding, “Based on our mission to contribute to national health improvement and our R&D expertise, we will lead the future health functional food market.”

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