Covering the food & beverage industry, beauty, fashion, retail markets, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and related people and entities worldwide
KCON Japan turns spotlight on latest K-food trends
Japanese visitors to KCON Japan 2026 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba show Bibigo dumpling and Micho sets they received from a food truck operated by CJ CheilJedang inside the concert hall during the event from Friday to Sunday. Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang.
By Ko Dong-hwan
Samyang Foods, CJ CheilJedang spur appetites
A major K-pop concert in Japan last weekend became a pavilion for the latest K-foods, as leading gastronomic companies targeted music fans on site.
KCON Japan 2026 saw the makers of Bibigo and Buldak launch food trucks and booths, sharing samples of their flagship products with fans from around the world. From Friday to Sunday, the event at Makuhari Messe in Chiba drew 120,000 visitors.
CJ CheilJedang carried out its project with K-pop boy band ZEROBASEONE. Under its “Happy Bibigo Day” campaign, the company successfully drew the group’s fans to its promotional spots.
Over the three days, food trucks gave away 20,000 Bibigo products, including dumplings and its fruity Micho vinegar drinks, which the company has selected as strategic items to attract the Japanese consumer market. According to the company, the trucks were constantly bustling with long queues throughout the event.
CJ CheilJedang cited a Japanese visitor to KCON Japan as saying, “I loved taking photos at the ZEROBASEONE photo zone in the Bibigo booth and enjoyed the Bibigo dumplings I often eat. I want to experience not only the dumplings and Micho that are popular in Japan but also a wider variety of K-foods.”
Samyang Foods, meanwhile, set up “Buldak Mart,” a promotional booth inside Makuhari Messe, offering a preview of Swicy Buldak — a new sweet-and-spicy version of its globally popular instant noodles set to debut in the Japanese market. The booth also promoted the company’s other spicy instant noodle brand, MEP, as well as Buldak-flavored potato chips.
Samyang Foods' Buldak Mart booth, left, caters to crowds at Makuhari Messe in Chiba during KCON Japan 2026 from Friday to Sunday. Courtesy of Samyang Foods
Samyang Foods said its Japanese subsidiary, Samyang Japan, hosted a promotional event during KCON Japan last year that drew 12,000 visitors. A company official described KCON Japan as a significant event where Japanese consumers can experience K-foods alongside K-culture.
“We will continue to expand touchpoints with global consumers through differentiated contents and experience-oriented marketing which are unique to the Buldak brand,” the official said.
Major K-food companies targeted this year’s KCON Japan, as the neighboring country is a key global market that responds quickly to K-foods. CJ CheilJedang, to streamline its exports to Japan, completed construction of a Bibigo dumpling manufacturing plant in Kisarazu City, Chiba, last September with an investment of 100 billion won ($68 million).
The factory produced its first batch of dumplings in March. The company supplied the products to 6,000 local retailers, generating 700 million won in sales that month alone and helping Bibigo reach a 10 percent share of the local dumpling market.
CJ CheilJedang currently distributes its Bibigo lineups including dumplings, Micho, gimbap and sauces to 40,000 offline retail and e-commerce platforms in Japan including AEON, Amazon, Rakuten and Don Quijote.
“We felt the heightened status of Bibigo and K-foods during this year’s KCON,” a CJ CheilJedang official said. “We will continue to strengthen Bibigo's position as a representative K-food brand through differentiated and diverse activities going forward."