Chairman Lee Jay-hyun of CJ Group. (Photos: CJ Group)

CJ Cheiljedang has released the next-generation natural seasoning brand TasteNrich. TasteNrich is a fully natural flavoring made with the fermentation of sugar cane and other vegetable ingredients.

CJ Cheiljedang’s new natural seasoning is considered a game changer to challenge the lofty reputation of the Japanese seasoning juggernaut Ajinomoto, which has ruled the global seasoning market with monosodium glutamate (MSG) for the past 111 years.

“Nature's flavor enhancers” are in wider use as ingredients designed to enhance flavor in producing most processed foods like ham, sausage, ramyeon and simple home meal replacements.

Three kinds of the next-generation natural seasoning brand TasteNrich, released by CJ Cheiljedang.

Nucleic acid and MSG have so far dominated the flavoring segment. Ajinomoto, which developed MSG in 1909, has ruled the global flavoring market for 111 years.

MSG, dubbed “uamami” in Japanese or “The Fifth Taste,” immediately became a hit flavoring product. In Korea, Daesang’s Miwon made its debut in 1955, while CJ Cheiljedang introduced fermented seasoning ingredients such as Mipung and DASHIDA.

The late Lee Byung-chul, the founder of Samsung Group, took his cue from Ajinomoto’s technology and business model when he established Cheiljedang, predecessor of CJ Cheiljedang in 1953.

CJ Cheiljedang has challenged Ajinomoto on several occasions. The former’s first challenge bore fruit with the development of nucleic acid, an ingredient for food seasonings.

CJ Cheiljedang entered the nucleic acid market and took the global No. 1 position in the nucleic acid market, smaller than the MSG market, to outduel Ajinomoto.

CJ Cheiljedang has a 53 percent share in the global nucleic acid market whose value is estimated at 600 billion won. CJ Cheiljedang posted 12.766.8 trillion won in sales last year, surpassing Ajimoto’s sales of 12.64 trillion won.

The development of the newly released seasoning TasteNrich is designed to overpower Ajinomoto. CJ Cheiljedang said 10 years of R&D activities led to the development of the new natural seasoning. CJ Cheiljedang plans to maintain leadership with super unmatched competitiveness in a global taste competition of the global food industry, the company added.

TasteNrich is a natural seasoning, departing from the limitation of the conventional seasonings undergoing a “chemical reaction.” TasteNrich may be categorized into a clean label as produced by a natural fermentation process using organic, premium and vegans’ ones.

Chances are high that TasteNrich has a high growth potential as it targets health-concious food trends of millennials and Generation X.

The reason behind CJ Cheiljedang’s development of the new seasoning is Chinese companies’ chase. Fufung of China outran Ajinomoto in the global MSG market while another Chinese company ranked 2nd in the global nucleic acid market, followed by No. 3 company Ajinomoto.