CJ CheilJedang's Chief of Staff Lee Hyung-joon speaks during a shareholders meeting at CJ Group's human resources training center in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang

CJ CheilJedang has announced plans to cement its market leadership in the United States by investing more in creating new food products to boost its overseas sales, according to the country's major food product maker, Wednesday.

The food subsidiary of CJ Group has been gaining popularity in Korea and the U.S. with its frozen food products under its signature label Bibigo including pizzas, dumplings and other Asian-style foods.

Lee Hyung-joon, CJ CheilJedang's chief of staff, said during a shareholders meeting on the same day that the company will create new "big categories" other than dumplings to sustain its market leadership in the U.S. and continue its drive to become a global top-tier food company.

Lee said that by using marketing strategies and ultra-precision technologies, the company will speed up its global business and improve its value internationally. He added the company will also accelerate its market expansion in Europe and Australia.

Products of CJ CheilJedang are among frozen food products at one of Ralphs supermarkets in the U.S. state of California, Feb. 20. Korea Times file

The company's 17th annual shareholders' meeting was held at CJ Group's human resource training center in Seoul. Lee was there on behalf of CJ Group Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik.

CheilJedang's food products saw robust sales last year. But its bio, food nutrition technology (NFT) and animal feed and care sales were sluggish due to raw ingredients' rising prices that led to a slow domestic livestock industry and delayed economic recovery in China, a major market for the company.

Last year, CheilJedang saw its overall sales register 29 trillion won ($22 billion), a 3.5 percent year-on-year decrease, and operations earn 1.29 trillion won, a 22.4 percent year-on-year decrease.

Lee also said during the shareholders meeting that CheilJedang will keep driving qualitative growth for its bio and NFT businesses as well as red biotechnology led by CJ Bioscience and Batavia Biosciences.