CJ CheilJedang Surpasses 4 Trillion Won Quarterly Sales for the First Time... Strong Global Performance in Food and Bio Businesses

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] CJ CheilJedang posted solid results in the third quarter of this year despite the pressure of rising food costs, thanks to efforts to improve profitability such as expanding the proportion of high-margin products.

On the 8th, CJ CheilJedang announced through its earnings report that third-quarter sales reached KRW 6.8541 trillion, up 8.1% year-on-year, and operating profit increased by 7.7% to KRW 433.2 billion (consolidated basis including CJ Logistics).

Excluding CJ Logistics’ performance, sales grew 12.7% year-on-year to KRW 4.2243 trillion, and operating profit rose 3.3% to KRW 322.2 billion. This was the first time quarterly sales surpassed KRW 4 trillion, driven by strong global performance in the two main pillars: food and bio businesses.

The food business division achieved sales of KRW 2.579 trillion (up 7.9% year-on-year) and operating profit of KRW 186 billion (up 5.8% year-on-year). Domestically, home meal replacement (HMR) products led by the Bibigo, Hetbahn, and Gourmet brands maintained an overwhelming market position. Overseas markets such as the U.S., Japan, and China saw sales growth driven by expanded sales of K-food strategic products including dumplings and Micho. Overseas sales including the U.S. Schwans recorded KRW 1.1254 trillion, a 10.3% increase from the previous year.

Regarding operating profit, despite a sharp increase in cost burdens due to global inflation, profitability was maintained through efforts such as cost efficiency and focusing on high-margin channels and products. The strategy to diversify growth paths also proved effective. Online and convenience store sales of processed foods increased by 33% and 15%, respectively, and the share of online, B2B, and convenience store channels in total processed food sales exceeded 30%.

The bio business division, leading the global green bio market and expanding into white and red bio sectors, recorded sales of KRW 1.0442 trillion, up 35.4% year-on-year, and operating profit of KRW 127.4 billion, up 60.9%. This is the first time the bio business division’s quarterly sales exceeded KRW 1 trillion. The ability to supply various items from production bases spread worldwide through ‘compatible production’ enabled agile responses to external environmental changes and secured global market dominance. CJ CheilJedang explained that differentiated technology marketing led the ‘low protein trend’ in the feed and livestock market, and the strategy to foster high value-added specialty products such as arginine and Taste Enrich also yielded results.

CJ Feed&Care (feed and livestock) posted sales of KRW 601.1 billion (up 2.2% year-on-year) and operating profit of KRW 8.8 billion (down 84.5%). Although cost burdens increased due to rising grain prices and pork prices fell in the Vietnam region, profitability decline was minimized through advanced quarantine capabilities responding to livestock diseases and a high value-added feed growth strategy.

A CJ CheilJedang official said, “Despite the all-around crisis including rising grain and freight costs, we are continuing solid growth through bold structural improvements,” adding, “We will prepare for the future and accelerate growth through continuous discovery of new growth engines, innovative product development, and strategic R&D investment.”

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