PR Newswire - CJ Foods to Break Ground on Commercial Land-Based Gim Cultivation Facility, Pioneering Sustainable Production of Korean Seaweed

• With construction set to begin in August, CJ Foods is advancing commercial land-based gim cultivation to deliver a stable, year-round supply of high-quality Korean seaweed for global consumers.

SEOUL, South Korea, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CJ Foods is accelerating commercialization of land-based gim cultivation technology. Gim, a Korean seaweed food commonly roasted and eaten as a snack or used in dishes such as gimbap, has gained global attention as Korean cuisine continues to grow in popularity and consumers increasingly seek healthy foods. While global demand for gim is rising, conventional ocean-based cultivation is reaching its limits due to rising sea temperatures.

To address this challenge, CJ Foods has been advancing R&D and commercialization of land-based gim cultivation technology since 2018, and today announced that it will break ground this August on a commercial land-based gim cultivation facility in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. This milestone marks the company's entry into the commercialization phase, following its achievement as the first in Korea to successfully cultivate gim in a 3-ton laboratory-scale tank in 2021 and its securing of a gim variety optimized for land-based cultivation in 2022. The facility is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2027, and bibigo™ gim products produced there will be supplied to global markets including the U.S. Looking ahead, CJ also plans to build a shared-growth land-based cultivation model in partnership with local governments and fishing communities in South Korea.

The new commercial facility will be equipped with multiple tanks and cultivation systems. Based on the lab-pilot facility at CJ Blossom Park R&D Center and enhanced by CJ's longstanding manufacturing expertise, the site will serve as a key bridge to mass production and help accelerate the growth of CJ Foods' gim business. At this facility, the company plans to move toward large-scale commercialization leveraging its core technologies, including Korea's first and only gim variety dedicated to land-based cultivation, full life-cycle control technology for gim, specialized culture media (nutrient solution), and integrated quality control.

Once operational, the facility will make it possible to supply gim year-round with fresh and consistent quality, rather than harvesting only during the winter season as in conventional ocean farming. Because the gim will be cultivated in a precisely controlled production environment, CJ Foods expects to secure differentiated taste and flavor as well as a high level of quality consistency. Through this initiative, the company aims to establish a stable global supply chain for gim and take a leading position in the sustainable future food market as worldwide demand continues to expand.

CJ has been building up technologies for land-based gim cultivation. The company developed its own gim variety optimized for land-based growing conditions and registered a patent for it in the first half of this year. Compared with conventional varieties used in ocean farming, this proprietary strain offers higher production efficiency and greater temperature adaptability. In addition, the company has developed technology to fully control the entire gim life cycle on land, from cultivation through quality management. This enables the stable, year-round harvesting of gim with quality that can exceed that of conventionally farmed, ocean-grown gim. CJ has also developed a specialized culture medium that promotes growth and maximizes taste and quality, significantly improving production efficiency. The company has further secured technologies to prevent heavy metal accumulation, reduce waste, and shorten production processes.

CJ Foods recently had an opportunity to validate the quality and taste of land-based gim by serving roasted gim made from land-cultivated seaweed at a pop-up restaurant. In late April, the company's young chef development project, Cuisine.K, operated a three-day pop-up restaurant in Seoul's Gangnam district, where it presented Korean cuisine dishes highlighting the flavor of land-based gim.

"This facility will serve as a testing ground for applying CJ's more than decade-long land-based gim cultivation technology at an industrial scale, while also becoming an outpost for the sustainable future of K-Food." said CJ Foods Global CTO Adam Ricciardone. "We plan to further accelerate commercialization so that consumers around the world can enjoy fresh, safe bibigo gim in every season."

About bibigo

Founded in 2010, bibigo Korean-style foods are part of a global brand created by CJ Foods, which is Korea's No. 1 food company. In the U.S., bibigo products are distributed by CJ Schwan's, a U.S.-based affiliate of CJ Foods. The bibigo brand line-up includes a full assortment of snacks, appetizers and meal items, featuring signature products such as delicious Mandu (Korean-style dumpling), chicken, processed rice, Korean sauces, Kimchi, Gim (seaweed), and Korean street foods. bibigo products are sold across around 80 countries globally.

For more information, visit bibigoUSA.com

About CJ Foods

CJ Foods, a business unit of CJ CheilJedang, is a global food company delivering a variety of products ranging from foodstuffs and frozen/chilled foods to appetizers. As the largest food company in Korea for decades, CJ Foods is now leading the global food industry with its renowned Korean food brand "bibigo." The company operates in multiple regions worldwide including South Korea, the U.S. (as CJ Schwan's), Japan, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

For more information, visit https://www.cj.co.kr/en/aboutus/business/food