Bibigo, K-food a success case in Harvard Business School study

Harvard Business School students are set to study the success of South Korean foods in the global market through the case of Bibigo, the leading brand of the country’s food giant CJ CheilJedang Corp.

Harvard Business School last week unveiled a case study entitled “CJ Foods: The Path to Global Food Leadership," about CJ CheilJedang’s business strategies and achievements, to a class of 180 executives including CEOs of major global companies, according to the Korean company on Sunday.

It was the first time for the prominent business school in Boston, Massachusetts, to select a Korean food maker for a case study. The school had previously focused on Korean manufacturers, such as global memory chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co. and the world’s No. 4 automaker Hyundai Motor Co.

“CJ CheilJedang aims to accelerate the globalization of South Korean food culture to make enjoying K-food part of global culture, going beyond a temporary trend,” said Lee Sun-ho, CJ Group heir apparent, who participated in the case study.

The company launched Bibigo in 2011, bringing frozen dumplings to the US market. By 2016, Bibigo had overtaken Japanese rival Ajinomoto Co.’s Ling and topped the US dumpling market. As of 2021, Bibigo ranked as the United States' No. 1 Asian food brand.

CJ CheilJedang’s overseas food sales surpassed 5 trillion won ($3.8 billion) in 2022.

GLOBAL STRATEGIC MENUS, ACQUISITIONS

The Harvard case study explained how CJ CheilJedang expanded its global market with seven strategic foods: dumplings, fried chicken, steamed rice, sauces, kimchi, dried seaweed and rolls. The company’s first item on its global menu was dumplings; it generated annual sales of more than 1 trillion won in 2020.

The company expanded its global market presence through localization strategies to customize products for consumers in each country while maintaining an identity as Korean food, the study said.

To further its expansion, CJ CheilJedang also acquired overseas companies.

In February 2019, the company took over Schwan’s Co., a US frozen foods maker, after which its sales rose more than 30% — from $2.3 billion in 2019 to $3 billion in 2022. Red Baron, its frozen pizza, topped the US market, beating rival pizza DiGiorno by Nestle following CJ's acquisition.

CJ CheilJedang also became the No. 1 player in the Vietnamese frozen and convenience foods market through takeovers there. The company strategically selected markets for entry by considering factors such as population, income levels, Asian food market size, number of Korean restaurants and cold chain infrastructure, the study said.

Write to Hyung-Joo Oh at ohj@hankyung.com
 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.