CJ CheilJedang steams sticky rice for global expansion
Rice is placed into bowls for Hetbahn microwavable sticky rice at CJ CheilJedang's manufacturing plant in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang
Hetbahn for US, Europe on pipeline at advanced Jincheon plant
JINCHEON, North Chungcheong Province — CJ CheilJedang, which introduced the country’s first microwavable steamed rice bowls under the Hetbahn brand in 1996 and has dominated the market since, is accelerating exports to promote healthier diets for global consumers.
Hetbahn now exports to 60 countries, with the United States the largest market. The rice bowls were rebranded as Bibigo and entered the country in 2017. Across the world, Hetbahn last year saw its exports out of overall sales jump to 15 percent from 8 percent in 2021, with an average annual growth of 30 percent during the period.
CJ CheilJedang is positioning rice as a “better carbohydrate” compared to bread as part of its global expansion. The company cited global market research agency Mintel, which said 34.6 percent of American consumers who purchase rice see it as a “healthier option” and use it not only for Asian cuisines like fried rice or sushi but also for Western dishes like chicken, steak, burritos or rice bowls. The share of people in the country who ate rice at least once a week rose to 45 per cent last year, up from 37 per cent in 2023.
“Of course there are other rice exporters to the U.S. right now. But we possess better quality and convenience than them. Ours come in microwavable bowls and short grain. The variety is now expanding," Jin Kim, the company's global chief marketing officer, said Wednesday. "The others, on the other hand, come in a pouch and still need a pot to cook them. Our quality and technologies, they haven’t reached yet."
CJ Blossom Campus in Jincheon is CJ CheilJedang's largest manufacturing plant in Korea. Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang
She added, “But our period of exports to the U.S. hasn’t been long enough. While our market share there is now 11.9 percent, Ben’s Original takes up about 45 percent.”
CheilJedang said it has targeted the U.S. as a primary global market for now because local consumers have become very familiar with rice and the country’s market for processed foods is second to none in the world.
“American consumers, contrary to my initial thought, have developed a keen taste for rice. They know differences between different brands and know what good quality rice tastes like,” said Oh Ye-jin, food research and development master at the company.
Kim added, “The U.S., unlike Asian countries where rice is a main ingredient on food tables, has a high acceptance for imported food ingredients. Their produced foods market has already entered a mature stage.”
CheilJedang now owns 16 U.S. manufacturing plants of Schwan’s, an American food company it acquired in 2019. Kim said that if the needs in the U.S. rise to a level unsustainable by CheilJedang’s rice export base in Busan, it is possible some of the Schwan’s plants will be upgraded to locally produce Hetbahn.
Hetbahn, produced at the company’s largest plant in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, last year posted sales of 1.18 trillion won ($892 million) overall, 15 percent of which were in overseas markets. The figure has risen every year since 2021, when sales reached 790 billion won, with exports accounting for 8 percent. Hetbahn’s rising popularity contributed to CheilJedang’s overall sales. Between 2001 and 2025, sales jumped 18 times, last year peaking at 5.2 trillion won.
The Jincheon plant, known as CJ Blossom Campus, was completed in 2018 following a 1 trillion won investment. It features aseptic packaged rice manufacturing technology that the company says is as complex as semiconductor foundry technology.
Automation facilitates the entire process from packaging to logistics, rice cooking and bowl making, enabling the plant to produce 280 million Hetbahn bowls per year. With another factory in Busan, the company’s production capacity is 700 million units annually. The company holds 267 patents for the production technologies behind Hetbahn.
CheilJedang is pushing forward with Hetbahn despite falling rice consumption here, increasing supply contract volume with farmers. Last year, the company bought 65,000 tons of domestic rice, more than triple the amount from a decade ago. Over the past 30 years, Hetbahn used 43 million bags of supplied rice, equivalent to 860,000 trucks loading 1 ton.