CJ Freshway Expands Development of Exclusive Sauces for Dining Brands

Dedicated Team Established Late Last Year
Over 40 Types of Sauces Developed in the First Half of This Year

CJ Freshway is accelerating the development of exclusive sauces for business-to-business (B2B) dining brands, leveraging its expertise in food ingredient distribution and its own manufacturing infrastructure.

According to CJ Freshway on June 29, the company developed more than 40 types of sauces in the first half of this year alone, and its June sales increased by approximately 15 times compared to January. The range of industries supplied is diverse, including cafes, bakeries, Korean cuisine, Western cuisine, and pubs. At the end of last year, the company established the "Sauce Synergy Team" under the FC Business Division, which is responsible for food ingredient distribution for the dining-out sector, and focused on creating synergy between its distribution and manufacturing businesses. With the new Eumseong plant, a dedicated sauce manufacturing facility, now in operation, production capacity has also increased. The Eumseong plant automates processes such as sauce blending, packaging, and sterilization, and is capable of producing about 30,000 tons of sauce annually.

CJ Freshway's strategy is to enhance product competitiveness and customer satisfaction by expanding its range of exclusive sauces for dining brands. Sauces are not only essential for defining the unique taste of menu items, but are also useful for improving cooking efficiency and maintaining quality, making them indispensable ingredients for restaurant brands.

As the largest food ingredient distributor in Korea, CJ Freshway emphasizes its strength in offering a one-stop process from sauce production and quality inspection to inventory management and distribution, thereby expanding its client base and product offerings. The company not only proposes products that consider cost reduction based on accumulated data, but also actively utilizes its in-house infrastructure, such as its R&D center and manufacturing plants, to shorten development periods and provide customer-oriented solutions. Specialists from various fields, including sales, merchandising, and R&D, are also actively involved in this process.

A CJ Freshway representative stated, "We are receiving positive feedback from our clients in the dining industry by taking full responsibility for everything from customized sauce development to manufacturing and supply, allowing them to focus on their core business." The representative added, "By combining our distribution capabilities for dining-out food ingredients with our manufacturing infrastructure, we will introduce differentiated products and contribute to customer lock-in effects."

Meanwhile, the sauce market is expected to continue its growth. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the size of the sauce market last year was estimated at around 3 trillion won. The market, which was 1.37 trillion won in 2019, reached 2 trillion won in 2020 and 2.3 trillion won in 2022.