CJ CheilJedang, Binggrae among 145 firms to lead Korea's food exports

Customers at Hojokban, a Korean restaurant in Manhattan, N.Y., enjoy Korean-style cocktails using CJ CheilJedang's Jari brand alcohols in this December 2025 photo. Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang

CJ CheilJedang and Binggrae have been selected for the government’s new food export initiative, "Global Next K-Food," along with 143 other companies, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Thursday.

CJ CheilJedang, the food subsidiary of CJ Group, will share its global market network with small- and medium-sized breweries as part of a consortium aimed at jointly boosting exports of Korean liquor products.

The move comes as the ministry begins restructuring the country’s food export channels by linking large companies with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) that lack global market access and networks.

The collaboration will enable four wineries and breweries specializing in rice-based traditional liquors, including Danong Bio and Moonbaesool, to export their products to premium restaurants in North America through CJ’s existing distribution channels.

Binggrae will help two food SMEs export their halal-certified products to Muslim markets across Southeast Asia. Leveraging popular K-food items such as rice cake stir-fried with red hot pepper paste, banana-flavored milk and ice cream, the firm will host local pop-ups featuring products by Hanil Food and YPFood.

Global Next K-Food has selected 145 food, beverage and liquor firms in Korea to converge their strengths in global distribution networks and internationally popular products to maximize their exports. The government, upon launching the project, said the goal is simply to create "next ramyeon."

Ramyeon, or instant noodles, has now become a key global K-food category, exemplified by products such as Samyang Foods’ Buldak.

Hochi, the mascot of Samyang Foods’ Buldak noodles, stands beside a boat decorated with the brand’s logo during a media event in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 8, 2024. Reuters-Yonhap

The national project is three-pronged: forming consortiums of companies to share markets and supply channels, grouping companies with the same target markets to share marketing and shortlisting startups with promising products for global promotion.

Examples identified by the goverment include consortirtiums focused on products aimed at street vendors in Central and South America, tea and protein drink exports to China and Japan, and specialty frozen products ideal for for cold-chain distribution over long distances.

“Although exporters are facing growing difficulties due to the prolonged conflict in the Middle East, the ministry will support K-food’s continued expansion into global markets by turning crisis into opportunity through shared growth among SMEs and large firms. Focused marketing of strategic items by region and the development of K-food products based on new technologies and ideas are our key measures," said Jeong Kyung-seok, the ministry's director-general for food industry policy.

Global Next K-Food follows the joint announcement by multiple ministries last December of a new global K-food export strategy structured in five sequential stages, with Global Next K-Food representing the first stage of that plan.