Muristek
CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun unveils the conglomerate's mid-term growth plans South Korea’s CJ Group, which operates the country’s largest food and beverage company CJ Cheiljedang Corp. and entertainment giant CJ ENM Co., is investing 20 trillion won ($16 billion) over the next five years to enhance its presence in content, K-food and other future growth drivers.Under its mid-term growth plan announced on Monday, the conglomerate’s investment, to be made in its Korean businesses only, will focus on four growth areas – culture, platforms, wellness and sustainability through 2026.Specifically, the group will spend 12 trillion won, or 60% of the investment plan, on advancing its content creation and Korean food businesses.CJ ENM, producer of the Oscar-winning film Parasite, saw its invested content globally recognized over the weekend.Korean director Park Chan-wook won the Best Director award for his romance film Decision to Leave, while actor Song Kang-won won the Best Actor award for his role in the movie Broker at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. CJ invested in the two movies. Director Park Chan-wook (left) of Decision to Leave and actor Song Kang-ho of Broker won the Best Director and Best Actor awards, respectively, at the 75th Cannes Film Festival CJ ENM, which manages streaming service provider TVing and film production company Studio Dragon Corp., has said it will seek to set up additional production houses by genre to ride on the global popularity of Hallyu or the Korean Wave.For the enhancement of its platform business, CJ has been strengthening business ties with content providers, including Naver Corp.K-FOOD, ANOTHER KEY GROWTH DRIVERCJ Group said it will also expand its food-related business to globally promote so-called K-food.It plans to develop new product lines through CJ Cheiljedang, which sells mandu (dumplings) and other frozen meals under the Bibigo brand. An assortment of CJ Cheiljedang food products sold in the US Sales of CJ Cheiljedang’s six key products – mandu, instant rice bowls, kimchi, Korean seasonings and gim (seaweed laver) – increased 30% in the US market last year from the previous year.The group said it will spend 7 trillion won on its logistics, e-commerce and other platform business. The conglomerate owns retail and logistics firms such as CJ Logistics, CJ CGV, and Korea’s largest beauty store chain CJ Olive Young.The remaining 1 trillion won will go to wellness, including the biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business, and sustainability projects.Earlier this month, CJ BIO, a unit of CJ Cheiljedang, began mass producing marine biodegradable polymers at is Indonesian plant.“With the 20 trillion won investment, we expect to create 5,000 new jobs annually over the next five years to boost the local economy,” said a group official.By Kyeong-je Hanhankyung@hankyung.comIn-Soo Nam edited this article.
Most Read