CJ Foods' land-based gim cultivation lab-pilot facility at CJ Blossom Park R&D Center, in Suwon, near Seoul, South Korea.
Photo: CJ Cheiljedang.
CJ Foods, the leading food and lifestyle brand in the Korean food industry, has announced it is breaking ground on a commercial land-based gim cultivation facility, thus pioneering sustainable production of Korean seaweed.
Made from red algae, gim (or kim) is a generic term for a group of edible, dried seaweeds (similar to Japanese nori) to be used as an ingredient that is a cornerstone of Korean cuisine. Commonly roasted and eaten as a snack or used in dishes such as gimbap, it has gained global attention as Korean cuisine continues to grow in popularity and consumers increasingly seek healthy foods.
However, as CJ Foods highlighted in a statement, while global demand for gim is rising, conventional ocean-based farming is reaching its limits due to rising sea temperatures and, therefore, the company—part of the South Korean conglomerate CJ Cheiljedang, which in March sold its subsidiary CJ Feed & Care to De Heus Animal Nutrition—is accelerating commercialization of land-based gim cultivation technology.
Thus, to meet this challenge, since 2018, it has been developing research, development and commercialization activities of land-based farming technology of gim, and a few days ago, it finally announced that, in August, it will begin construction of a commercial land-based cultivation facility of gim in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea.
This milestone, therefore, marks the South Korean company's entry into the commercialization phase, after becoming the first company in Korea in 2021 to successfully cultivate gim in a 3-ton experimental laboratory tank and after obtaining in 2022 a variety of this seaweed optimized for land-based cultivation.
During the first half of this year, CJ developed its own variety of gim optimized for land-based farming conditions and registered a patent for it. Compared to conventional varieties used in ocean farming, this proprietary strain offers greater production efficiency and better adaptation to temperature variations.
In parallel, it has also developed a specialized culture medium that promotes growth and maximizes taste and quality, significantly improving production efficiency. Moreover, it has further secured technologies to prevent heavy metal accumulation, reduce waste, and shorten production processes.
CJ Foods added that it has also developed technology that allows complete control over 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," the company claimed.
"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, commenting on the announcement.
According to the release, the new land-based commercial facility will be equipped with multiple tanks and farming systems. Based on the lab-pilot facility at CJ Blossom Park R&D Center, located in Suwon, near Seoul, the capital of South Korea, 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.
Specifically, the company said that, at this facility, it 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.
Thus, once operational, the facility will allow for the supply of gim year-round with a fresh and consistent quality, instead of limiting the harvest to the winter season, as is the case in conventional ocean farming.
Furthermore, because the gim will be grown in a carefully controlled production environment, CJ Foods expects to achieve a distinctive taste and quality, as well as a high degree of consistency. As global demand continues to expand, with this initiative, the company aims to establish a stable global supply chain for gim and secure a leading position in the sustainable food market of the future.
The facility is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2027, and bibigo™ brand gim products manufactured there will be supplied to international markets, including the United States.
"We plan to further accelerate commercialization so that consumers around the world can enjoy fresh, safe bibigo gim in every season," CTO Adam Ricciardone stated. Created by CJ CheilJedang, bibigo™ is a global Korean food brand "to showcase the taste and culture of Korea."
Finally, CJ Foods added that, looking ahead, it also plans to develop a shared growth model for land-based farming in collaboration with local governments and fishing communities in South Korea.