CJ Foods hopes to reinforce its presence in the European food market by offering visitors a chance to experience bibigo products firsthand at the world’s biggest sports gala
CJ Foods is promoting Korean food at the Paris Olympics with a pop-up venue called bibigo-Zone, or “bibigo Sijang,” an outdoor space inspired by Korean traditional markets.
The market is part of the Korea House by Korea Sports & Olympic Committee (KSOC), a space that exists to promote Korea, showcase Korean culture and Korean food, and support Team Korea. Situated at the Maison de la Chimie, an international conference center in the heart of Paris’ 7th arrondissement, the Korea House serves as a hub of Korean culture and cuisine in partnership with its main sponsor, CJ Group.
Having established a French subsidiary in May, CJ Foods hopes to reinforce its presence in the European food market by offering visitors a chance to experience bibigo products firsthand.
The Korea House has a 230-square-meter outdoor garden where CJ Foods runs booths inspired by Korea’s traditional markets: Sijang. Five combo meals will be available — chicken mandu, beef mandu, Korean-style corn dogs, plant-based kimchi mandu and plant-based bulgogi rice balls, all served with bibigo’s kimchi and tteokbokki. Notably, the bibigo street food corn dogs are making their debut in Europe at this event. With the growing level of global interest in K-food, the site is extremely popular with visitors.
Events included a raffle that visitors can enter after trying a bibigo meal, taking a picture and sharing it on social media. Prizes include bibigo Seaweed Snacks, eco-bags, T-shirts and other branded merchandise.
Business customers can also sample bibigo products, opening up the possibility of new partnerships between the brand and major local retailers. To boost awareness in the market, CJ Foods is hosting introductory sessions for key media outlets in France and across Europe.
With over 300 Korean restaurants in Paris alone, this past May was the perfect time for bibigo to enter the market. CJ Foods plans to boost awareness of bibigo’s K-food products with a range of online and offline marketing activities targeting Generation Z and millennial customers — two segments that have shown keen interest in Asian cuisine.
Europe is a key strategic region for CJ Foods. After entering the market in 2018 with the acquisition of German frozen food company Mainfrost, it introduced bibigo products such as mandu, seaweed, kimchi, and chicken to major supermarket chains Edeka, Globus, Tegut and REWE. Recently, CJ Foods also launched an official bibigo store on Amazon Germany, one of the country’s largest e-commerce platforms. In 2022, after establishing a subsidiary in the United Kingdom, the company began distributing K-food products through major local retailers like ASDA, Ocado and Sainsbury’s and its European food sales grew 45% year-over-year in the first quarter of this year.
