Tomato-based sauces account for more than 70 percent of the share in the pasta sauce market in Korea and the sales of cream sauce are also growing rapidly with more than 50 percent annually.(image:jh_tan84/flickr)
SEOUL, July 11 (Korea Bizwire) – Highlighting “wellness” feature of natural and healthy ingredients and better flavors, CJ CheilJedang wants to profit from an increasingly lucrative sector in the food market which is valued at about 50 billion won (US$49 million) : the pasta sauce market
According to CJ, it is contemplating a plan to expand the market volume by encouraging consumption of the popular tomato sauce. The food brand will spotlight a wide variety of flavors using the sauce and offer differentiated recipe marketing to capture the taste of consumers with new products of tasty and quality cream sauce.
CJ produces three tomato pasta sauces and provides various cooking recipes using the sauces through its website.(image:CJ CheilJedang)
Tomato-based sauces account for more than 70 percent of the share in the pasta sauce market in Korea and the sales of cream sauce are also growing rapidly with more than 50 percent annually.
Building on the core message of “healthy ingredients,” CJ will focus on the beauty of the tomato sauce, comparing with tomato ketchup — both are made from the same tomatoes. In fact, tomato pasta sauce has fewer calories and less sodium and sugar than tomato ketchup, and CJ is encouraging the usage of enzymes in light of the numerous advantages it offers.
Currently, it produces three tomato pasta sauces and provides various cooking recipes using the sauces through its website. The company also plans to offer experimental marketing activities like cooking classes utilizing the tomato sauce.
Along with the tomato sauces, CJ rolled out its “Beksul Cream Pasta Sauce” to shore up its pasta product lineup. The cream pasta sauce market is effectively dominated by foreign brands now, so CJ aims to increase its market share with its own distinctive taste and quality competitiveness in the fast-growing sector.
Its cream pasta sauce, made of domestically available raw cream and natural cheese, follows the recipe of its franchise restaurant Premium Steak House VIPS and gives off the flavors of Italian natural cheese of Grana Padano.
An official at CJ CheilJedang said, “As more and more consumers turn to tomato sauce instead of tomato ketchup — and the market size of the cream pasta sauce is growing rapidly, the market outlook is promising. With differentiated taste and high quality, along with a variety of sales and marketing activities, we will try to take the dominant position in the market.”
According to LinkAztec, a market research firm, the volume of ketchup market in Korea keeps shrinking from 44.7 billion won (US$44 million) in 2009 to 39.1 billion won (US$39 million) in 2013.
However, the market size of tomato pasta sauces has grown to 36.7 billion won last year from 21.0 billion won in 2009, on average a 15 percent growth annually. In case for cream pasta sauce, its market size has tripled last year to record 4.6 billion won from 1.4 billion in 2010.
Written by John Choi (johnchoi@koreabizwire.com)
Business (Follow us @Biznews_Korea)
