CJ CheilJedang builds world's largest frozen pizza plant in US

Schwan's Company CEO Dimitrios Smyrnios cuts the ribbon to celebrate the completion of the firm's frozen pizza production facility expansion in Salina, Kansas, May 19. Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang

By Kim Jae-heun

CJ CheilJedang has completed the construction of the world's largest frozen pizza production facility in the United States as part of its efforts to unseat market leader Nestle from the top spot, company officials said Monday.

Korea's largest food firm expanded its Schwan's pizza factory in Salina, Kansas, by about 40,000 square meters to a total of 90,000 square meters, which is the size of nearly 12 soccer fields combined. Schwan's is a North American subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang that it acquired in February 2019.

The company is also expanding its logistics center within the frozen pizza production facility, for completion by 2025. The logistics center will be in charge of distributing all the food products of CJ CheilJedang in the United States including those of its global Korean food brand Bibigo.

“We have largely increased our brand Red Baron's production capacity to proactively cope with the soaring demand for frozen pizza in the United States,” Schwan's Company CEO Dimitrios Smyrnios said. “We will secure a dominant position in the domestic pizza market based on our state-of-art production facility (in Salina).”

CJ CheilJedang expects its production facility expansion to significantly increase Red Baron's market share in the United States. The brand's market share has already risen to 19.4 percent as of April this year, up from 15.5 percent in 2020. It narrowed the gap to only 1 percentage point smaller than Nestle's frozen pizza brand DiGiorno, which has a 20.4 percent market share.

Red Baron's frozen pizzas are produced at Schwan's production facility in Salina, Kansas, May 19. Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang

CJ CheilJedang's ultimate goal is to become the No. 1 food company in the United States. The company expects Schwan's to serve as an outpost for its global food business expansion.

The food company's sales in the U.S. increased year-on-year by 18 percent in the first quarter of this year. In the first year of its acquisition of Schwan's, CJ CheilJedang made about 2.2 trillion won ($1.67 billion). Last year, the company's sales exceeded 3 trillion won.