Frozen Chicken Surprises the Market... Meet the Key Players Behind the Chicken Industry Shake-Up [Hipful Hiptem]

Interview with the Sobaba Chicken Team, the Mega Hit Makers at CJ CheilJedang
Frozen Chicken Becomes a Go-To Late-Night Snack
"It Took Two Years to Develop Crispy Seasoned Frozen Chicken"

"In the past, consumers didn't even consider comparing frozen chicken to delivery chicken. But now, frozen chicken is starting to replace delivery chicken. Sobaba Chicken is at the forefront of this shift in perception."

'Gourmet Sobaba Chicken' was CJ CheilJedang's "mega hit" product last year. Within just six months of its launch in April last year, it achieved sales of 30 billion KRW, and reached 50 billion KRW in eight months, reshaping the landscape of the chicken market.

CJ CheilJedang Sobaba Chicken Team (Eunsoo Lee, Yunji Han, Yeoeun Kim, Heeyeon Lee, Juhee Jung, Junhee Lee, Sewoon Sung) Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

On April 11, at the CJ CheilJedang Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, we met with Heeyeon Lee (female), Manager; Eunsoo Lee (male), Manager; and Yeoeun Kim, Assistant Manager-key players behind Sobaba Chicken's success. They cited "competing on equal footing with delivery chicken" as the secret to Sobaba Chicken's mega hit status.

Manager Lee (female), who is in charge of Sobaba Chicken's brand marketing, said, "Among consumers, there were many reviews saying Sobaba Chicken tasted like 'G Chicken,' a famous chicken franchise. In the past, frozen chicken was associated with kid-friendly side dishes like nuggets, but now it's expanding into a late-night snack that adults enjoy on their own."

She especially noted that as the price of delivery fried chicken has soared well above 20,000 KRW, there will be even more room for Sobaba Chicken in the market. Manager Lee said, "While demand for delivery chicken won't disappear entirely, just as dumpling restaurants and frozen dumplings coexist, delivery chicken and frozen chicken will become categories that compete on equal terms."

Gourmet Sobaba Chicken

The key to Sobaba Chicken's ability to rival delivery chicken lies in its taste and quality. As its name-short for "sauce-coated crispy chicken"-suggests, Sobaba Chicken succeeded in overcoming the limitations of frozen chicken, which was previously known for being soggy. Assistant Manager Kim explained, "By double-frying the chicken, just like specialty restaurants do, and applying our proprietary 'sauce coating' technology, we achieved a crispy texture as if it were freshly fried. We developed it so that consumers could enjoy a texture and flavor comparable to delivery chicken."

To fully enjoy Sobaba Chicken, consumers must also follow the recipe instructions meticulously. For Sobaba Chicken Soy Honey Boneless, preheat the air fryer at 140 degrees Celsius for three minutes, cook for six minutes, then flip and cook for an additional five minutes.

It took as long as two years to arrive at the optimal recipe. Assistant Manager Kim, who oversees CJ CheilJedang's entire chicken business, recalled, "Since the product already has a sauce coating, it tended to burn during reheating. It wasn't just about finding the right temperature and time-we experimented with countless combinations, including different ratios of ingredients like soy sauce and honey."

CJ CheilJedang Sobaba Chicken Team Eunsoo Lee Manager (from left), Heeyeon Lee Manager, Yeoeun Kim Assistant Manager. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

Recently, Sobaba Chicken made a second bold move to transform the chicken market: the launch of its seasoned (yangnyeom) flavor. Until now, seasoned chicken was considered an insurmountable challenge for frozen chicken. This was because it was difficult for frozen chicken to achieve both a rich sauce and crispiness, and consumers' preferences for seasoning varied widely. Assistant Manager Kim recalled, "After trying countless restaurant chicken dishes, we found that the flavor profile of seasoned chicken was extremely diverse, and each consumer had different expectations, making it hard to determine the optimal taste." After extensive research, Sobaba Chicken's seasoned flavor was developed to be mildly spicy and sweet with a tangy note, so even elementary school students could enjoy its umami-rich taste.

The initial response, one month after launch, has been enthusiastic. Manager Lee (male), who develops sales strategies for each channel, said, "We've managed to somewhat disprove the saying, 'A younger brother is never as good as his older brother.' While it's too early to disclose specific figures, overall sales are increasing without the cannibalization we were concerned about." Cannibalization refers to a situation where a company's new product eats into the sales of its existing products, negatively impacting overall revenue.

Manager Lee (male) believes that Sobaba Chicken's journey from a fleeting hit to a steady seller has been greatly influenced by CJ's core identity: the "OnlyOne Spirit." He said, "The OnlyOne Spirit consists of three elements: being the first, the best, and being differentiated. Sauce-coated chicken was the first of its kind in the processed chicken market, and by producing it with the best technology and implementing differentiated marketing strategies for each season, we achieved rapid sales growth."

Sobaba Chicken is still only sold in Korea. Since there are countries where chicken meat cannot be exported, local production is often necessary for frozen chicken. Assistant Manager Kim said, "We are developing ingredients and recipes tailored to each country's characteristics so that K-frozen chicken can enter the global market within three years."