CJ Freshway Teams Up with Meal Kit Leader Fresh지 to Fully Launch 'Meal Solution' Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] CJ Freshway is maximizing its distribution and manufacturing capabilities by partnering with Fresh Easy, the number one meal kit company.

CJ Freshway, a CJ Group company specializing in food ingredient distribution and group catering, announced on the 2nd that it is teaming up with Fresh Easy, a company specializing in ready-to-eat meals, to target the B2B meal solution market.

B2B meal solutions go beyond standardized meal kit products to provide customized packages tailored to the characteristics and on-site conditions of businesses such as restaurants and group catering facilities, including menu development and delivery. This eliminates the need for pre-processing at the store, improving labor and space efficiency while reducing food waste concerns.

Through B2B meal solutions, small-scale restaurants facing labor shortages or challenging cooking environments can offer high-quality meals with simple cooking processes. Restaurants focused on store operations can easily add delivery menus during idle times, making it a promising new revenue growth strategy. Fueled by the ongoing non-face-to-face consumption culture and growing delivery demand in the dining market, the related market is expected to grow further.

CJ Freshway’s meal solutions take responsibility for everything from menu proposals based on social trends and dietary changes to development and delivery for various clients. This is expected to solve existing problems faced by businesses or stores and help revitalize their operations.

CJ Freshway has established a meal solutions team this year to develop its existing food ingredient distribution business model and create new added value, strategically preparing to enter the B2B meal solution market.

Through a business agreement with Fresh Easy, CJ Freshway plans to provide meal solution products and services that enable restaurant clients to generate profits even during idle times. For example, restaurants hit by sales declines due to social distancing can efficiently operate their stores by offering delivery-only meal solution menus in lunchbox form.

With this agreement as a turning point, CJ Freshway aims to fully launch its B2B meal solution business to help restaurant clients improve store efficiency amid difficulties and to revitalize the sluggish dining market for mutual growth.

The nationwide food ingredient distribution network of CJ Freshway and the ready meal production infrastructure of Fresh Easy are expected to create significant synergy. CJ Freshway will conduct menu R&D and production according to client demands through Fresh Easy, which has the capacity to produce 500 types of products, while Fresh Easy will use CJ Freshway’s proprietary logistics network to supply products nationwide. Based on this, the two companies plan to establish a cooperative system and continuously discover and promote business opportunities from a mid- to long-term perspective.

Kim Jaeyong, Head of Product Development at CJ Freshway, said, “As a leading company in the food ingredient distribution market, we have been considering ways to enhance customer convenience and satisfaction not only by supplying ingredients but also by proposing and developing optimized menus for each client. Going forward, we will strengthen the B2B meal solution business and secure new growth engines through cooperation with Fresh Easy.”

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