Stock Price Rises 109% in June
Overseas Expansion Accelerates with Frozen Gimbap Exports
Following Samyang Foods, the market capitalization of Sajo Daerim has surged sharply, boosting investment sentiment in the food and beverage sector. This is a result of the growing global popularity of K-Food. Sajo Daerim's stock price soared on expectations of growth as it exports frozen gimbap, home meal replacements (HMR), and processed seafood products overseas.
According to the financial investment industry on the 1st, Sajo Daerim's stock price rose 109% during June. It jumped from a closing price of 43,500 KRW on May 31 to 88,600 KRW. Its market capitalization exceeded 800 billion KRW.
Sajo Daerim's stock price surged right after announcing on the 14th of last month that it would export three types of frozen gimbap to global markets. Seunghwan Choi, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., analyzed, "Existing major products such as Gwangcheon gim, crab sticks, ham, fish cakes, and cooking oil are the main ingredients of processed foods like gimbap," adding, "We expect sales to increase alongside the expansion of export markets."
He continued, "Sajo Daerim completed its food ingredient portfolio covering gim, ham, fish cakes, crab sticks, cooking oil, canned tuna, and starch syrup through acquisitions such as Sajo Oyang in 2007, the merger with Sajo Haepyo in 2019, and the acquisition of Ingredient Korea (now Sajo CPK) in February 2024."
Sajo Daerim's flagship products are core ingredients of K-Food, including gimbap. Its domestic market share ranks 1st to 3rd across categories such as cooking oil, crab sticks, and canned tuna, meaning that as K-Food's popularity rises, Sajo Daerim's sales will increase accordingly. Shinhan Investment Corp. estimates that Sajo Daerim will achieve sales of 2.5991 trillion KRW and operating profit of 193.9 billion KRW this year.
In the first quarter of this year, Sajo Daerim recorded sales of 594.6 billion KRW and operating profit of 44.1 billion KRW, up 17.3% and 41.0% respectively compared to the same period last year.
Sajo Daerim plans to actively utilize distribution networks in the United States to expand its export items. Starting with supplying three types of frozen gimbap to H Mart, the largest Korean supermarket in the U.S., it will also supply Korean dishes and HMR products such as Yukgaejang and Chueotang, which are hard to find locally. It is preparing to supply premium crab stick products popular in Korea, such as 'Kravia,' 'Snow Crab King,' and 'Lobster King,' from the second half of this year. As Sajo Daerim actively expands its export items, interest in K-Food is expected to grow further. The popularity of frozen gimbap is serving as an opportunity to widely promote various gimbap ingredients.
Jihye Jang, a researcher at DS Investment & Securities, explained, "As global consumers' interest in K-Food grows, major distribution channels in various countries are increasing the range of Korean processed food products they handle," adding, "Domestic food and beverage companies are adding diverse localized product lineups." She further added, "The overseas performance of major food and beverage companies will continue to grow, and an expansion of overseas sales proportion is expected."
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