PlanTable Royal Gyoja has made its way into 10 countries, including Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and UAE, in just two months since launching.
CJ CheilJedang’s new 100% vegetable bibigo dumpling product, which has been verified as vegan, has greatly increased the number of countries it is exported to in just two months since its launch, accelerating the company’s expansion of Korean food’s territory across the globe.
On the 21st, CJ CheilJedang said that after introducing its bibigo PlanTable Royal Gyoja into South Korea, Australia, and Singapore in December last year, it currently exports the product to 10 countries. The product is exported to countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, the UAE (United Arab Emirates), Mexico, the U.S. (Guam), Nepal, and Mongolia, and in those markets, it comes with five different kinds of fillings, including original, kimchi and mushrooms. Plus, in the case of Singapore, the bibigo PlanTable product has been launched on the country’s top e-commerce site Lazada and the like. On top of this, consumers in Islamic countries, where people previously were unable to enjoy dumplings due to their meat ingredients, are now requesting that CJ CheilJedang make bibigo PlanTable Royal Gyoja available in their countries.
PlanTable Royal Gyoja’s being “meatless alt-meat dumplings” makes it possible for Korean food culture to be spread to consumers in countries where dumplings containing meat are not consumed.
In the future, CJ CheilJedang aims to debut its bibigo PlanTable Royal Gyoja in various global markets including not only the U.S. and Europe, but also South America, the Middle East and Africa. To that end, the company also plans to expand its product lineup in each popular Korean food category, such as tteokgalbi and rice balls, and to further upgrade the taste quality. Through these efforts, CJ CheilJedang is planning to intensively nurture bibigo PlanTable Royal Gyoja as a new driving force for the globalization of Korean food and for the enlargement of its key global strategic product (GSP), dumplings.
PlanTable Royal Gyoja is gaining a huge amount of popularity in South Korea as well; 280,000 units were sold during the same period, exceeding the target volume, and it has garnered over 500 customer reviews so far.
Meanwhile, bibigo PlanTable Royal Gyoja is also gaining huge popularity in South Korea’s domestic market. In just two months following its launch, 280,000 units have been sold, far exceeding the target volume. The product received loads of rave reviews from consumers saying that its taste and quality didn’t pale in comparison to meat dumplings. At CJ CheilJedang’s official mall, The Market, more than 540 reviews of the product poured in, leaving the dumplings with a satisfaction score of 4.8 out of 5.
PlanTable, the name of which is a portmanteau made up of “plant” and “table,” is a dedicated plant-based food brand launched by CJ CheilJedang. For its first product, bibigo PlanTable Royal Gyoja, five kinds of fresh vegetables, alternative meat and vegetable oil have been used to make the flavor indistinguishable from bibigo Royal Gyoja. The problem of the soggy texture caused by the moisture from vegetables has been overcome with CJ CheilJedang’s proprietary technology, and the soybeans’ unique flavor has been softened with “TasteNrich,” which is a natural seasoning material created by the company using its 60 years of R&D know-how.
The outlook for the bibigo Plan Table product is bright. The global market for plant-based meat has expanded from 4.47 trillion KRW in 2016 to 7.43 trillion KRW in 2020, a nearly 70% increase in just four years, and it is expected to grow by more than double digits each year going forward. In particular, in Australia, where 12% of the population is vegetarian, the market for alternative meat is expected to expand to about 2.7 trillion KRW by 2030, making it a high-potential market for CJ CheilJedang.
A CJ CheilJedang official said, “By expanding the export of bibigo PlanTable Royal Gyoza, we are now able to introduce healthy and delicious Korean dumplings to consumers around the world who were previously unable to enjoy Korean food as much as they wanted. In keeping with the global mega trend of “health & wellness,” we will strive to take the lead in the global plant-based food market by further diversifying our products.”
