E-Mart, CJ CheilJedang to beef up strategic partnership

CJ CheilJedang Corp., South Korea’s largest food company, said on Wednesday it will increase the number of food products exclusively launched at E-Mart Inc. before they hit the shelves at other retail stores.

On Aug. 30, chief executives of the two companies signed a strategic partnership agreement to cooperate in producing and distributing food products, as well as in sharing customer feedback on the products.

In June, they inked a memorandum of understanding for strategic cooperation, including venturing into uncharted territory next year. The two companies did not elaborate on their new business ventures. 

The two companies will collaborate with food experts and famous chefs to develop new products, including restaurant food so far unavailable at home, and pre-cooked meals, to meet new food consumption trends.

Those products to be launched later this year will be sold on all online and offline platforms of Shinsegae Inc., including SSG.COM, E-Mart Traders and E-Mart Everyday. Shinsegae is the parent company of E-Mart.

CJ CheilJedang has already sold some food exclusively through E-Mart, with their official launches. Those foods include Bibigo Bungeoppang, a fish-shaped waffle filled with sweet red beans, and cooked white rice Hetbhan.

E-Mart is South Korea's No. 1 supermarket chain. It will employ new product display tactics for CJ products to differentiate them from other brand products. Its online malls such as SSG.COM will house more products under the CJ CheilJedang brand.

To raise awareness of CJ products, they will create promotional content and post them on their social media platforms.

"Leveraging CJ CheilJedang's technology and brand power with E-Mart's operational and platform management capabilities, we will introduce innovative products and services from the consumer's perspective," said a CJ CheilJedang official.

Write to Ji-Yoon Yang at yang@hankyung.com
 


Yeonhee Kim edited this article.