CJ CheilJedang to overhaul business structure into three divisions

CJ CheilJedang announced Tuesday a sweeping rebalancing of its business divisions, replacing its existing two-pillar structure of food and biotech with three new units: lifestyle food, technology materials and core materials. The company said it will also exit businesses with low growth and low profitability.

CEO Yoon Seok-hwan said the restructuring is intended "to raise execution by aligning strategy with the core purpose of each business and to secure future growth opportunities." He added that the company aims to "transform its fundamentals into a stronger business structure, maximize competitiveness and evolve into a global lifestyle-leading company."

The lifestyle food division will serve as a "global K-food center," spreading Korean food culture and lifestyle to consumers worldwide through global strategic products built around the Bibigo brand — including mandu, chicken, processed rice, sauces and kimchi.

The technology materials division will act as a next-generation growth engine, leveraging differentiated research and development capabilities to break into new markets. Its flagship businesses include the nucleotide seasoning ingredient nucleic acid, the natural seasoning material Taste & Rich (TnR) and PHA, a biodegradable plastic material drawing growing industry attention.

The core materials division will pursue profitability through synergies across its raw-material businesses — spanning feed-grade amino acids such as lysine and tryptophan, general ingredients (sugar, flour and cooking oil), processed materials (oligosaccharides, premixes and similar products) and new materials such as allulose. The company plans to build new business models to establish a sustainably profitable revenue structure.

CJ CheilJedang also named the executives who will lead each division. Gregory Yep will head the lifestyle food division. Yep has led research and development and business innovation at global food and nutrition companies for more than 30 years and has served as head of the food division since last year.

Yoon will concurrently oversee the technology materials division, drawing on the management leadership he built driving technological innovation in the biotech business to guide the unit's evolution into a high-value, solutions-focused organization. Kim Chan-ho, head of the strategic support division, will concurrently lead the core materials division. Kim earned recognition after taking the helm of CJ Foodville in 2020, turning the unit profitable and accelerating its global expansion through initiatives including K-bakery.

A CJ CheilJedang official said the restructuring represents "disruptive change and innovation aimed at deeply rethinking the essence of each business and elevating divisional competitiveness to the world's highest level," adding that the company "will strategically redeploy resources and capabilities to lead future growth."