Views of “Happy Bean Soft Tofu Ball” and “MaxbonGrilled Skewered Bar,” released by CJ Cheiljedang. (Photos: CJ Cheiljedang)

CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun.

CJ Cheiljedang launched “Happy Bean Soft Tofu Ball” and “Maxbon Grilled Skewered Bar” on April 2, which are prepared with ease to meet rising home snack consumption.

Happy Bean Soft Tofu Ball is a round-shaped product made with tofu and the flesh of pollack. The texture of the food is chewy.

The flesh of pollack in on the surface and the inside is filled with soft tofu.

The packed product can be cooked for one minute in a microwave or for five minutes in an air fryer to make it crisper. It also can be used instead of eomuk (fish cake) to cook udon (noodles) or tteobokki (stir-fried rice cake) and make salads.

Maxbon Grilled Skewered Bar is roasted to add grilled tastes and flavors. Seasoning like garlic and ginger, designed to remove the meat smell, as well as sweet-tasting onions, are combined and fermented for more than 12 hours to make the texture soft yet chewy. The bar is divided in pieces each with the size of one bite.

Happy Bean Soft Tofu Ball and Maxbon Grilled Skewered Bar are priced at 2,980 won for a 150 gram version and 1,800 won for a 90 gram version. The new product is available in supermarkets.

CJ Cheiljedang predicts that the so-called 4th Meal trend, a kind of nighttime snack, will catch on.

In particular, the company is paying attention to the trend that the market for tofu and cooked meat, the side dish segment, is stagnant, but snacks like processed tofu and skewered items show signs of growth. The company saw hot, skewered bar product sales surge 30.3 percent annually since 2017.

CJ on Successful Globalization Run

CJ Group aims to become a global life and cultural company by making the most of a competitive edge the group attained in Korea.

With the Korean film “Parasite” winning the Academy Awards, catapulting Korean-made movies to global attention, CJ is pulling out all the stops to ramp up the image of CJ as a leading company committed to spreading the K-lifestyle.

To this end, CJ is picking up steam in making each business globalized.

CJ Cheiljedang fired a flare in globalizing its food business by spending 3 trillion won to acquire Schwan’s Company, a U.S. frozen food leader in 2018.

The acquisition was the biggest-ever M&A deal CJ has ever signed. With the acquisition of Schwan’s Company, CJ Cheiljedang has secured major U.S. distribution networks such as Wall-Mart, Crocker and Costco.

CJ Cheiljedang has seen its global sales surpass half of the company’s total sales for the first time since its establishment.

The feat confirms the standing of CJ Cheiljedang as a global food maker, experts say.
It was also the first time the company surpassed 20 trillion won in annual sales on a consolidated basis since its founding.

The 2019 business performance released by CJ Cheiljedang on Feb. 12 showed that the company recorded 22.352.5 trillion won on a consolidated basis, a 19.7 percent year-on-year jump and 896.9 billion won in operating profit, a 7.7 percent surge.

CJ Cheiljedang Group Chairman Lee Jay-hun has managed to secure liquidity thanks to across-the-board efforts to improve its financial structure, made at his behest.

Net debt, owed by CJ Cheiljedang, except the logistics business unit (CJ Logistics), stood at about 4.801.7 trillion won as of the end of 2019, a reduction of more than 2 trillion won over 6.935.3 trillion won in the end of 2019 Q3.

The net debt was similar to 4.502.5 trillion won as of the end of 2018 when the company acquired Schwan’s Company, the U.S. No. 2 frozen food maker.