CJ launches meal kit business

CJ CheilJedang Online Business director Kim Kyung-yeon speaks at the launch of the company's meal kit service at the company's headquarters located in central Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang

By Kwak Yeon-soo

CJ CheilJedang will launch a meal kit service to extend its home meal replacement (HMR) business and to leverage cooking trends in Korea.

At a press conference to unveil the meal kit brand “COOKIT,” company officials said they have worked on menu development for one-and-a-half years, with the support of 13 professional chefs.

The food company has partnered with CJ Freshway to secure access to fresh ingredients such as vegetables, meat, fish and sauces while teaming up with CJ Logistics to deliver meal kits and recipes to customers within 24 hours.

“So far, we have designed about 60 different menu items, which include not only Korean but Spanish, Italian and Japanese cuisines. We have also developed dishes with a seasonal spin,” a CJ CheilJedang official said.

“We aim to roll out 200 menu items within two years and continue to upgrade menu quality.”

Meals can be made within 30 minutes. They cost between 10,000 won ($10) and 40,000 won per kit, which serves two to three people.

CJ CheilJedang's move into online food delivery comes as it eyes a new business model.

Meal kits are available on CJ ONmart, CJ CheilJedang's online food shopping mall.

The company official stopped short on the possibility of introducing meal kits at offline stores.

“We will be looking to expand into retail channels as this is where the biggest opportunity lies,” the official said.

The company is aiming for 10 billion won in COOKIT sales this year and boosting it to 100 billion won in the next three years.

CJ CheilJedang also plans to invest more than 10 billion won by November building a “meal kit center” equipped with automation to accelerate its market entry.