Bibimbap

By Park Si-soo

CJ Group will open a flagship restaurant specializing in “bibimbap” in London next month in line with the firm’s ambitious project of globalizing the signature Korean dish of mixed rice with various vegetables to the same rank as hamburgers, sushi and pizza.

CJ Foodville, CJ Group’s restaurant business arm, said Wednesday that its latest Bibigo restaurant will open in the English capital ahead of the London Olympics. It will become the first branch of the chain in Europe, the firm said.

Bibigo is CJ’s global corporate identity for its exported food products and restaurants.

The one-story, 80 square-meter restaurant will serve bibimbap, acorn jelly salad, jellyfish and shrimp salad, ginseng orange salad and other traditional Korean dishes, the company said.

Some recipes will be modified for British consumers and popular Korean chef Kang Rae-o, who studied for years in several European nations, will develop a new menu as part of the localization strategy.

“The London store will help increase public awareness of CJ as well as Korean food in Europe,” a CJ Foodville official said. “We decided to open the restaurant on the occasion of the Olympics since with people from all around the world will flock to London.”

CJ Group began to use the Bibigo brand from May 2010 and opened restaurants under the same name in Beijing, Los Angeles and Singapore the next year. It plans to open up to 20 restaurants in eight countries by the end of this year.

CJ Group’s export of Korean food is commanded by Noh Hee-young, executive director of CJ Brand Communication Lab. The 49-year-old is known to have the Midas touch in local retail and food industries since the doctor-turned-brand expert has played a key role in making dozens of mediocre brands mainstream.

Meanwhile, the Korean government is running aggressive campaigns to promote Korean food worldwide. Many ministries and firms have hosted Korean food tasting events to help increase global awareness of what they call “K-food” to the level of sushi from Japan.

Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Food Suh Kyu-yong said in a recent interview with The Korea Times that 10 years should be enough time for Korean cuisine to achieve worldwide recognition.

“The world has shown interest in Korean culture as demonstrated by the frenzy for K-pop of late. Similar trends will happen to K-food once we effectively promote it around the world,” Suh said.