CJ's overseas food sales top domestic for first time

CJ CheilJedang’s overseas food sales reached nearly 6 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in 2025, overtaking domestic revenue for the first time, though weaker new businesses and soft demand at home weighed on overall earnings.

The company reported revenue of 17.75 trillion won in 2025, down 0.6 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit fell 15.2 percent to 861 billion won. Including logistics affiliate CJ Logistics, consolidated revenue rose 0.4 percent to 27.34 trillion won, though operating profit declined 15 percent to 1.23 trillion won.

Of the food unit’s 11.52 trillion won in annual revenue, up 1.5 percent on-year, overseas sales accounted for 5.92 trillion won, surpassing domestic food revenue for the first time.

The momentum showed through in the fourth quarter, when overseas food sales rose 9 percent to a record 1.61 trillion won, whereas domestic food revenue fell 3.8 percent to 1.31 trillion won amid weak consumer spending and rising input costs.

According to the company, overseas sales benefited from a widening appetite for Korean staples such as dumplings, kimchi, seaweed and noodles, as the foods are now mainstream convenience products across the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Other divisions, however, showed signs of weakness. The bio business posted revenue of 3.96 trillion won, down 5.4 percent on-year, while operating profit fell 36.7 percent due to weaker demand for products in the specialty amino acids segment.

“With the goal of maximizing growth in our overseas food operations, we plan to expand into new global markets while restructuring the bio segment and improving operational efficiency to restore profitability,” said a CJ CheilJedang official.