Korean food company CJ Foods is partnering with an existing food manufacturer in Australia, investing $10 million to establish local production of its brand Bibigo.
CJ Foods Oceania managing director Eugene Cha told Food & Drink Business the company would be producing its Korean dumplings – mandu – with local ingredients using an OEM structure with a local company that had more than 35 years’ experience in meal solutions.
“There will two lines that can produce approximately 3500 tonnes of mandu dumplings annually. In the future we plan to produce various other CJ Food products using Australian local ingredients. Other CJ Foods products include rolls, kimchi, rice-based meals and appetisers, sauce, seaweed-based ingredients, and snacks,” Cha said.
She added that the company planned to add additional products and different flavoured mandu dumplings to suit the Australian palate.
Cha said the investment in Australia came after seeing major growth in the popularity of Korean food.
“There has been a 40 per cent boost in interest, a 136 per cent rise in takeout orders, and a 199 per cent increase in recipe searches.
“CJ Foods Oceania's products have gained a lot of popularity because they are not only delicious and of high quality but also made with healthy and fresh ingredients, allowing people to enjoy them conveniently,” she said.
Cha said the Bibigo mandu dumplings produced in Australia will have a minimum of 55 per cent local ingredients.
“CJ Foods Oceania plans to further develop our products by incorporating even more local ingredients in the future,” she said.
The dumplings are produced with proprietary manufacturing technology, with various machine partners in Korea, Europe, and Japan.
“CJ Foods HQ aims to establish a global sustainable management system by 2025 to practice ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and transition to a sustainable business structure by 2030, ultimately achieving a “Nature to Nature” cycle by 2050.
“CJ Foods Oceania, representing CJ CheilJedang to Australian consumers, is making constant focus on engaging with communities and local consumers: we are developing our partnership to source our ingredients with local suppliers, which provide a great level of quality, and allows us to reduce our carbon footprint.
“In order to implement sustainable management in mandu dumpling line, in our new production line, we applied the manufacturing design to optimise energy efficiency by 16 per cent,” Cha said.
Cha said that to reduce its use of plastic and simplify the packaging production process, it is working with packaging material suppliers that hold ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) certification.
The mandu dumplings in Australia are packaged in a pouch manufactured by WONJI, a subsidiary of CJ Foods HQ.
“They have developed eco-friendly materials for food packages and high-performance barrier packaging materials to improve the shelf life and quality of product,” she said.
The retail ready packaging box and outer box for our Mandu dumplings is being manufactured by OPAL.
Three flavours of dumplings – Vegetable, Kimchi and Prawn – are in Woolworths, with three new flavours – Pork, Korean Barbeque, Chicken – being released in July. There are plans to launch products ranging from fried rice, rice balls, kimchi to Korean street foods such as tteokbboki and corn dogs in the future.
