CJ aims to connect its food, content and beauty businesses to make the K-lifestyle ecosystem part of everyday life and accelerate growth across North America
- Chairman Lee Jay-hyun Visits KCON and OLIVE YOUNG FESTA to Assess North American Business Operations
- Chairman Lee: “CJ Should Become a Global K-Lifestyle Leader That Fills People’s Everyday Lives With Content, Food and Beauty”
- Expanding Everyday Experiences by Connecting K-content, K-food and K-beauty Across Businesses
- Cumulative North American Investment Reaches KRW 9.7 Trillion, With Annual Sales Surpassing KRW 8 Trillion in 2025, More Than 10-Fold Growth in Eight Years
CJ has outlined a vision to reach KRW 12 trillion in North American sales by 2028 and become a leading global K-lifestyle company by leveraging the strength of its core businesses. Moving beyond the expansion of individual businesses and brands, CJ plans to build an ecosystem that brings K-lifestyle into the daily lives of U.S. consumers and drives global growth.
On August 15, CJ held its “Global K-Lifestyle Vision” presentation at Hilton Glendale in Los Angeles to share its North American business performance and mid- to long-term growth roadmap.
The announcement builds on the direction Chairman Lee Jay-hyun outlined during his May visit to CJ’s major business operations in the U.S. At the time, Chairman Lee called for greater synergies across the group’s businesses, saying, “To secure unrivaled competitiveness in the U.S. market, we need to connect all of CJ’s North American businesses through K-lifestyle and bring them into the daily lives of U.S. consumers.”
Chairman Lee visited KCON and OLIVE YOUNG FESTA, as well as the K-COLLECTION zone supporting the global expansion of small and midsize businesses, over three days beginning August 14. Returning to the U.S. just three months later, he saw firsthand how K-lifestyle is taking shape as younger generations in the U.S. incorporate K-content, K-food and K-beauty into their daily lives.
“Just as CJ’s cultural business began 30 years ago with the belief that ‘culture is the industry of the future,’ let’s move forward as a global K-lifestyle leader that fills people’s everyday lives around the world with content, food and beauty,” said Chairman Lee.
■ Building a K-Lifestyle Ecosystem as K-Fandom Becomes Everyday Consumption
At the presentation, CJ CEO Heo Min-heoi said, “CJ has invested in the U.S. market for over 30 years and is the only company with a portfolio spanning food, content and beauty. We will accelerate our efforts in North America by building an ecosystem that connects the popularity of the K-wave to K-lifestyle experiences.”
The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer market and a strategic hub for global cultural and consumer trends. It accounts for approximately 26% of global GDP and approximately 31% of global household consumption, with substantial consumer markets across lifestyle categories including food, beauty and entertainment.
In particular, interest in K-culture among Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers, who are highly receptive to new cultural influences and quick to embrace trends, is increasingly translating from content experiences into actual consumption across food, beauty and other categories. K-fandom sparked by K-pop and dramas is expanding into areas such as K-food and K-beauty, becoming part of everyday consumption.
According to CJ’s “Global K-Culture Influence Survey,” conducted in December last year, 30% of 1,000 U.S. consumers said they had purchased or consumed products or content across all major K-categories, including K-food, K-beauty, K-pop and K-content. The share of respondents who had purchased or consumed two or more K-categories reached 75%. Experience rates for K-dining, K-content and K-pop each rose by double digits, or 12-13 percentage points, from the previous year, helping drive the growth of K-trends in the U.S.
In response to these changes, CJ is pursuing a “Global K-Lifestyle Second-Stage Growth Strategy.” While its growth to date has focused on localizing individual brands and expanding production and distribution capabilities, the next stage will center on connecting food, content and beauty more organically to encourage consumers to engage with them on a regular basis.
Kim Jin-sik, CEO of CJ America, said, “We will create a self-reinforcing cycle in which interest in K-content expands into habitual and repeat consumption of K-food and K-beauty, which in turn leads to offline cultural experiences. To achieve this, we will expand joint brand marketing and business model collaboration across the group while organically connecting consumer touchpoints such as KCON, bibigo and OLIVE YOUNG.”
CJ began building its global content business with its investment in DreamWorks in 1995 and the launch of KCON in 2012. It later expanded into food, logistics and beauty through acquisitions including DSC (2018), Schwan’s (2019) and FIFTH SEASON (2021). As of the first half of this year, cumulative investment in North America had reached KRW 9.7 trillion.
North American sales surpassed KRW 8 trillion last year, growing more than tenfold from approximately KRW 800 billion in 2017, with an average annual growth rate of approximately 33%.
■ Expanding bibigo and Consumer Touchpoints Through KCON and OLIVE YOUNG FESTA
CJ also unveiled its North American K-food growth strategy at the presentation. CJ CheilJedang will further strengthen its focus on the U.S. mainstream food market by leveraging bibigo’s established competitiveness in the Asian food category. Alongside continued expansion of local production infrastructure and distribution networks, the company plans to extend the success formula proven in frozen foods to shelf-stable products and grow bibigo into a leading global K-food brand.
Federico Arreola, President of the Asian Cuisine Business Unit at CJ Schwan’s, said, “bibigo’s performance in North America shows that K-food is becoming part of the everyday diet of U.S. consumers. Following mandu, we will actively develop global strategic products (GSPs) such as Hetbahn, chicken, seaweed snacks, kimchi and K-sauces to grow bibigo into a truly global brand enjoyed at tables around the world.”
CJ will also continue expanding offline touchpoints where U.S. consumers can experience K-lifestyle firsthand. Held August 14-16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena, KCON LA 2026 is a signature K-lifestyle festival where fans can experience K-pop alongside K-food and K-beauty in a single location. It also serves as a gateway for turning interest sparked by content into actual consumption.
Held in the U.S. for the first time this year, OLIVE YOUNG FESTA has evolved into an experiential platform where global consumers can discover and experience a range of K-beauty brands firsthand. The event also offered programs to help small and independent brands expanding into the U.S. broaden their local consumer reach and raise awareness, positioning it as a global launchpad for K-brands.
