17 May 2016 – Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Raul Hernandez visited the Seoul-based headquarters of major conglomerate CJ Cheil Jedang (CJ) on Wednesday, May 11 in order to encourage Korea’s largest food company to expand its investments in the Philippines, including food processing and its proprietary 4DX cinema technology.
CJ is the largest food company in South Korea and is part of the CJ group, which in turn has interests in food, biotechnology, logistics, retail, entertainment, and many other sub-fields. In the Philippines, it is best known as the leading manufacturer of animal feeds, with CJ Philippines having been incorporated in 1996 as a feed provider to swine, poultry and aquaculture industries.
Accompanied by Philippine Trade and Investment Center Commercial Counsellor Mr. Emmanuel Ang and Trade Assistant Ai Ja Jeon, Ambassador Hernandez met with CJ Senior Vice President Mr. Bryan An, and CJ Senior Specialist for Strategy Planning Division, Mr. Sean Lee.
The visit started with a tour of the CJ building which houses outlets of some of the company’s main brands such as Tous les Jours bakeries, A Twosome Place coffee shops, VIPS steakhouses, Olive Young health and beauty stores, as well as a grocery featuring all the CJ food products found in the supermarkets all over Korea and overseas.
CJ SVP Mr. An then gave a brief presentation about the CJ Group and an update on the various businesses of CJ Group in the Philippines.
Separating from the Samsung Group in 1993, CJ became a life and culture group after its successful entry into the pharmaceutical, bio, chemical, retail and entertainment industries.
While it has emerged as one of the fastest growing feed companies in the country, CJ Philippines has expanded to various fields that also covers logistics, home shopping, Tous les Jours bakeries, and supply of cinema equipment using 4DX, a motion picture technology owned and developed by South Korean company CJ 4DPLEX, a part of the CJ Group.
CJ Group’s 4DX technology was first introduced in the Philippines in April 2014 by Ayala Malls Cinemas. Apart from the Philippines and Korea, 4DX technology is available in 37 other countries as of March 2016.
Ambassador Hernandez welcomed the news that CJ plans to further expand in the Philippines. These plans include expanding the current 19 Tous les Jours branches in the Philippines, expanding their animal feeds factory, and exploring additional new business ventures.
He invited CJ to look into setting up more food processing businesses in the Philippines, including possible kimchi production, and other ventures which take advantage of the Philippines’ agricultural and marine resource strengths in coconuts, tropical fruits, among others.
The meeting discussed specific steps for the Philippine Embassy in Seoul to assist CJ in expanding their animal feeds business and to look for partners for expanding their cinema equipment business in the Philippines.
Ambassador Hernandez also invited CJ to send a business development study team to the Philippines to explore new possibilities for business in food processing. The meeting discussed August 2016 as a possible month for this investment mission.
CJ expressed optimism with their business interests in the Philippines, citing the major improvements in the Philippine economy and the continued growth of the Philippine market. END