"The Time Has Come" The Third Generation of Food Making Their Presence Known

CJ CheilJedang Lee Seonho, Management Leader, Takes Charge of Plant-Based Food Business... Targets Overseas Markets
Nongshim Shin Sangyeol, Executive Director, Appointed as Key Purchasing Officer for Raw Material Supply

Lee Seon-ho, Food Strategy Planning Team 1 Manager and Business Leader at CJ CheilJedang (left), and Shin Sang-yeol, Senior Executive Director of Purchasing at Nongshim.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The third-generation young owners who will lead the domestic food industry in the future are actively stepping into the front lines of management, increasing their presence. This is interpreted as a move to solidify their position within the company as next-generation leaders by taking a leading role in new businesses that will drive the company's future growth and to secure legitimacy for future succession.

According to related industries on the 3rd, among the recent third-generation heirs of major food companies, the most noticeable is Lee Sun-ho, the eldest son of Lee Jae-hyun, chairman of CJ Group, who is the food strategy planning leader 1 (executive director) at CJ CheilJedang. Born in 1990, Lee graduated from Columbia University in the United States with a degree in Financial Economics, joined CJ CheilJedang in 2013, and after working in the food strategy planning team and bio business team, he was promoted to an executive at the end of last year.

CJ CheilJedang, aiming to become a global comprehensive food company, separated its headquarters organization into a global headquarters (HQ) and Korean food business earlier this year. The global HQ established a Food Growth Promotion Office responsible for leading future innovative growth, focusing on six major global strategic products: dumplings, chicken, seaweed, kimchi, K-sauce, and processed rice as future growth engines.

The strategic planning department under the Food Growth Promotion Office, which Lee leads, is responsible not only for regional growth strategy planning in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe but also for discovering and executing future new growth engines such as plant-based food business and startup investments. Recently, CJ CheilJedang announced a major plan to grow its plant-based food business to 200 billion KRW in sales by 2025, with more than 70% of sales generated from overseas markets. Lee is known to be leading this business proactively, raising interest in future business performance.

Shin Sang-yeol, executive director and eldest son of Shin Dong-won, chairman of Nongshim, has also stepped onto the main stage. Born in 1993, Shin graduated from Columbia University in the United States, joined Nongshim as an employee in 2019, and after serving as assistant manager and manager in the management planning team, was promoted to an executive in charge of purchasing through the year-end personnel reshuffle last year.

In food companies, the purchasing department handles core tasks related to sourcing raw materials, which form the foundation of finished products. Especially in recent times, when international raw material prices fluctuate significantly, proper purchasing management is crucial not only for maintaining stable production and sales prices but also closely linked to the company's performance. Additionally, it is considered an essential course for executives undergoing manufacturing management training because it is easy to develop financial acumen and requires communication with various departments, providing a good understanding of overall company operations. However, since Shin has held this position for less than a year, it is considered too early to discuss specific achievements.

Orion also shows signs of the eldest son of chairman Dam Cheol-gon, Dam Seo-won, starting his management training in earnest by joining as senior deputy general manager of the management support team in July last year. The management support team is responsible for the company's business planning, management strategy establishment, and domestic and overseas corporation management. Since Dam is not currently assigned any special position, this move is interpreted as focusing on learning overall tasks and building practical capabilities.

Born in 1989, Dam graduated from New York University in the United States and studied in China. Afterward, he joined Kakao Enterprise, which focuses on AI-based platform and solution development, rather than Orion, and gained experience there. Due to Dam's career, the recent business agreement between Orion and Kakao Enterprise attracted more attention. In April, Orion signed an agreement to improve its logistics system using Kakao Enterprise's logistics platform (Kakao i LaaS), and Dam is known to have participated as a practitioner, acting as a bridge in this process.

In addition, Huh Jin-soo, president of Paris Croissant and eldest son of Huh Young-in, chairman of SPC Group, who was promoted earlier this year, also stands out. Born in 1977, Huh graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in Biochemistry and joined SPC Group in 2005 as an executive director of Paris Croissant. He has served as head of the group’s strategic planning division and chief executive of the Innovation Lab.

Huh, who has enhanced the brand awareness and competitiveness of Paris Baguette in major overseas markets such as the United States, France, and China, is accelerating overseas business expansion even after his promotion. Recently, he began constructing a halal-certified bakery factory in Malaysia, signaling a full-scale entry into the halal food market worth 2,500 trillion KRW. SPC Group plans to open more than 600 stores in the Southeast Asian market and expand its business by 2030.