Seoul [South Korea], August 30 (ANI/Global Economic): CJ CheilJedang, a South Korean food company, has released Korean-style liquid hot sauce in the U.S. market.
It will target the U.S. customers in the hot sauce market worth 1.7 trillion won with Korean style spicy sauce under the brand name bibigo, seasoned with Gochujang (red pepper paste).
On August 26, the U.S. health and food magazine ‘NOSH’ reported that CJ CheilJedang U.S. branch released Korean style hot sauce product ‘GOTCHU’ on August 24.
It said, “GOTCHU localized Gochujang to the local people’s taste. It consists of two flavors (Classic, Extra Spicy), and is sold in local supermarkets such as Costso.”The hot sauce market in the U.S. is worth $1.54 billion (about 1.7976 trillion won) and is expected to grow by 3.5 percent annually.
The U.S. hot sauce market is expected to expand as home cooking culture is spreading due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
CJ CheilJedang bibigo’s GOTCHU is a product reflecting the U.S. dining culture that mainly uses sauce on top of cooking or dipping sauce. In addition, as Gochujang is the main ingredient of CJ CheilJedang’s flagship K-Food products such as dumplings, kimchi, laver and chicken, it is expected that GOTCHU will become a bridgehead for CJ CheilJedang’s growth in the U.S. business after bibigo dumplings.
Meanwhile, CJ CheilJedang’s consolidated sales revenue in the second quarter of this year increased by 6.6% year-on-year to 6.3092 trillion won. During the same period, its operating profit also increased by 22% to 469.6 billion won.
CJ CheilJedang’s sales in the U.S. market including sales of the U.S. frozen food company Schwan’s, which was acquired by CJ in 201, decreased 2% year-on-year. Schwan’s Company’s PPA (Purchase price allocation) was 8 billion won, down 12.3 billion won. But during the same period, the operating profit of Schwan’s decreased due to increased advertising costs for designing bibigo brands and settling new product markets.
Currently, Schwan’s Company’s subsidiary CJ Food USA and Schwan’s consumer brand are in charge of distributing products of CJ CheilJedang’s brand bibigo, which was launched in 2010.
“In this year, the company will target the U.S. market by focusing on bibigo, including release of new products,” an official of the CJ CheilJedang said. “Cj will satisfy customers’ needs with frozen Asian meal portfolio made of high-quality traditional ingredients.” (ANI/Global Economic)