Schwan’s Company and CJ Foods, two US-based affiliates of Seoul, South Korea-headquartered CJ CheilJedang’s CJCJ Food Americas business unit, are creating a complete portfolio for retailers to build-out their Asian-style food offerings in the freezer aisles of supermarkets and other grocery stores across the United States.
Bloomington, Minnesota-headquartered Schwan’s and La Palma, California-based CJ Foods produce and market a number of popular Asian frozen food brands, including Bibigo, Pagoda, Kahiki and Annie Chun’s.
Today, the retail frozen Asian food category represents $1.66 billion in annual sales in the United States and is growing rapidly. According to IRI retail data, frozen Asian food brand purchases were up 31 percent in the 13-week ending on January 24, 2021. This is significantly higher than the total frozen category, which reported a 19 percent lift during the same timeframe. In addition, nearly one in three consumers say Asian food is what they crave and have missed most from restaurants during disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic.
“Even as Asian foods see impressive growth and heightened demand, the category remains underdeveloped compared to other retail frozen categories,” said Schwan’s Consumer Brands President Brian Schiegg. “Schwan’s and CJ Foods are creating an unmatched and authentic frozen Asian food portfolio and making investments that will help accelerate sales and enable long-term, sustainable growth for our customers in the frozen aisle and beyond.”
Across retail and foodservice sectors in the United States, Asian food represents a $32 billion industry. CJCJ envisions growing the retail frozen Asian category to 10 percent of the total Asian food market and helping build a $3.2 billion retail category for its retail customers.
“We are focusing on fully developing the category’s tremendous potential by supporting our customers with investments in merchandising, marketing, integration, service and manufacturing,” said Schiegg. “With more consumers looking to replicate restaurant-quality food experiences at home, we are excited to partner with retailers on building out an Asian food category with so much promise and growth.”
New In-store Merchandising Model
While the category opportunity is well-defined, one obstacle for retail shoppers is the disarray of Asian foods across multiple locations in the frozen department.
Schwan’s new Asian Destination merchandising set is designed to bring all Asian-style food brands into a two-to-three-door section, making it easier for shoppers to find complete solutions for Asian meals. The company is working with multiple retailers to implement the model, which includes a proprietary category review process to highlight current opportunities for operators within their frozen Asian food offerings. These opportunities include selling authentic products and flavor profiles typically found only at specialty Asian stores.
“To make it easier for shoppers to explore and try new foods in this category, we are working with retailers to bring together the frozen Asian sub-categories into one destination,” said Ron Slominski, vice president of grocery sales and category management at Schwan’s Consumer Brands.
Asian Destination also includes innovative promotion and product mix and assortments, designed to attract shoppers’ attention through themed Asian-food endcaps or bundle deals with sauces, rice and noodles.
“We have seen Asian Destination pilots not only drive explosive Asian category sales growth, but also significant total frozen category growth. We expect the Asian Destination conversions to continue as we introduce the concept across more retailers this year,” said Slominski.
Portfolio of Leading, Brands Led by Bibigo
Another key initiative is the recent integration of CJ Foods USA’s Bibigo, Kahiki and Annie Chun’s frozen products into the sales and direct-store-delivery distribution network of Schwan’s Consumer Brands. Combined with Schwan’s Pagoda offerings, CJCJ Food Americas is creating a complete portfolio for retailers to build-out their frozen Asian-style food offerings in freezer cabinets.
“With our consolidated portfolio of leading brands and expanded capabilities under CJCJ, there now exists a strong category solution of high quality, authentic Asian foods for retailers and consumers,” said Brad Smith, vice president of marketing for Schwan’s Company. “We are in the process of bringing this strategy to market with an emphasis on the Bibigo brand, which includes the introduction of several new products this year.”
Launched in January, new products include Bibigo Korean-Style Crunchy Chicken, available in Soy Garlic and Sweet & Spicy varieties; Bibigo Korean-Style Fried Rice, available in Shrimp with Soy Garlic Flavor; and Chicken with Korean BBQ Flavor and Vegetables with Kimchi.
Bibigo is a global brand selling more than 100 frozen and shelf-stable products in 56 countries that has already demonstrated strong potential in the United States market, doubling in size from 2019 to 2020. With complex and layered flavors, Bibigo products combine modern and bold tastes with a time-honored Korean food philosophy designed to bring people together.
Others standouts in the portfolio include the Pagoda brand, which will focus on targeting millennial consumers with bold mainstream flavors of snacks and appetizers; the Kahiki label, which offers a range of multi-serve meals in popular mainstream flavors; and the Annie Chun’s brand, which provides a range of healthier shelf-stable and frozen options.
“We believe that our frozen Asian food portfolio, crafted with high-quality traditional ingredients, has the forms, flavors and brands to meet every consumer need, whether it be authentic tastes, mainstream options or healthier varieties,” said Smith.
Boosting Manufacturing Capacity and Capabilities
In January, CJ Foods USA announced that it is building a state-of-the-art Asian food production plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The facility will create a variety of products, fueling sustained category growth and enabling future innovation to meet the increasing needs of retail and food-service customers.
“We’re focused on leveraging the strengths of our parent company and its affiliates, as well as our shared culture of food innovation and category expertise to meet rising consumer demand for high-quality, authentic Asian meal solutions,” said Schiegg.
