Chinese consumers look at Hetbahn, cooked white rice, at a publicity booth set up by CJ Cheiljedang in Shanghai, China, in May. (Photo: CJ Cheiljedang)

CJ Cheiljedang has begun to sell Hetbahn, cooked white rice, in the Chinese market. The move is based on the fact that China has a cuisine culture based on rice, and of late Chinese demand for home-meal replacements is on the rise.

CJ Cheiljedang set up and operated a publicity booth in which visitors were given the chance to taste Hebahn in Shanghai, China, for three days from May 10. The publicity booth, arranged by a renowned cooking social media platform, attracted some 35,000 visitors.

CJ Cheiljedang plans to put Hetbahn on the Tmall.com, a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer (B2C) online retail, operated by Alibaba Group. The company also plans to conduct marketing activities on Chinese social network services such as WeChat.

CJ Cheiljedang expects Chinese of “Generation Z,” those born after the mid-1990s, will be major clientele for Hetbahn. The company plans to focus publicity of Hetbahn on the that generation, who tend to stay home more often and purchase goods online.

The company also plans to release other Hetbahn products, including Hetbahn Potridge, in the Chinese market. CJ Cheiljedang, which plans to set up a Hetbahn production center, aims to log more than 100 billion won in annual sales within three years.

CJ Cheiljedang President Kang Shin-ho said a prior local survey of Chinese showed that Hetbahn has been evaluated to have good quality and taste. The company plans to tap the Chinese rice market with Hetbahn, just as Bibigo Wanggyoza (King Dumpling) has become a hit product, he added.

CJ Cheiljedang’s Nucleotides on Roll in China

CJ CheilJedang has dominated China, the world’s biggest nucleotide market, and is now picking up speed to become a globally leading company in green biotechnology.

CJ CheilJedang has secured the leading supplier status in the market based on its overwhelming competitiveness in China, which takes up approximately two-thirds of the global nucleotide market and is estimated to be more than 400 billion won a year, while also staying at the top of the market share (in terms of production) with at least 60% of the global market.

CJ CheilJedang announced that its total nucleotide sales last year increased by approximately 20% based on its growth in China, and sales also increased year on year by 20% in the first quarter of this year. The company has been targeting the global market since 1977, when it first produced and released nucleotide.

Currently, it has three global nucleotide production bases in Indonesia and China, two of which are operated in Liaocheng and Shenyang, China.

Nucleotide is a flavoring agent that enhances the flavor of food and is used as a key ingredient that adds flavor to seasoning, soy sauce, sauces and various processed foods. It has received relatively little attention compared to amino acids for livestock such as lysine or tryptophan among various items that belong to the global green biotechnology market, but recently it is receiving much attention as a sought-after product with high growth and profitability.

CJ CheilJedang was able to become No. 1 in the global nucleotide market thanks to its quality and cost competitiveness based on advanced R&D capabilities attained by constant and preemptive investments.

The nucleotide products of CJ CheilJedang in the Chinese nucleotide market not only possess differentiated product competitiveness but also provide ‘customized solutions’ considering that most deals are business to business (B2B) deals.

Unlike other nucleotide companies in China that focus on ‘product marketing’ that provides only nucleotide products, CJ CheilJedang is increasing demand and sales through ‘technology marketing’ in which it provides not only the nucleotide products desired by local clients but also appropriate uses and recipes for each product.