"One of our strategies is to make it so Americans can taste CJ's food wherever they go."
On the 14th (local time) in the afternoon, at the CJ Schwan's plant in Beaumont, California. After passing through an area where the smells of fresh vegetables and minced meat mingled, a savory aroma wafted in. It was the line making Bibigo kimchi fried rice. Between the large pressure cookers, a big rotary pan that looked like a cement mixer spun nonstop. As oil flowed into the heated pan, the white rice quickly turned red as it mixed with ingredients such as kimchi and meat.
Melissa Thompson-Truup, vice president in charge of Asian food manufacturing at CJ Schwan's, said, "Here we produce Bibigo dumplings, fried rice, seaweed, sauces, ramen, and more," adding, "Products made at the plant are delivered to millions of American consumers. Recently we have been expanding sales channels beyond general retail and warehouse clubs to schools, restaurants, and convenience stores."
The Beaumont plant is a key production facility supporting CJ CheilJedang's U.S. food business. CJ CheilJedang rapidly expanded its business footprint after acquiring the U.S. frozen food company Schwan's in 2019. Based on Schwan's production, logistics, and distribution network, Bibigo products, including dumplings, are now sold at about 80,000 retail outlets in the United States, such as Walmart, Kroger, and Costco.
The plant covers about 41,249 square meters (12,500 pyeong) and houses four dumpling production lines, two fried rice lines, and facilities for seaweed, sauces, and noodles. Its annual production capacity is 120 million pounds (about 60,000 tons). Vice President Thompson-Truup said, "Among the seven production facilities CJ Schwan's operates in the United States, this is the one that produces the most Asian foods."
Among them, dumplings account for the largest share. Across the dumpling production lines, containers were filled with finely chopped fillings of pork, garlic chives, and onions. When a worker fed wheat dough into a machine, the flattened dough was stamped into round dumpling wrappers; after being filled, the dumplings, pleated as if hand-shaped, moved in rows along the conveyor belt. It takes about an hour from the input of materials and supplies to the emergence of finished goods after packaging. Local staff used the Korean term "mandu" instead of "dumpling" when describing the product.
The Beaumont plant produces more than 350,000 pounds (about 160 tons) of dumplings per day. Of that, Bibigo dumplings alone account for about 250,000 pounds (113 tons), which translates to more than 860,000 units per day of 187-gram Bibigo steamed dumplings. The Beaumont plant accounts for about 58% of CJ Schwan's total dumpling production and about 60% of Bibigo dumpling production. Since 2024, Bibigo dumplings have maintained the No. 1 market share in the U.S. B2C (business-to-consumer) dumpling market.
With dumplings selling well, product development aimed at U.S. consumers is also active. The approach is to maintain the identity of Korean food while incorporating local tastes. Vice President Thompson-Truup said, "In Korea, dumplings with pork and garlic chives are familiar, but in the United States we also make products using chicken and cilantro," adding, "We are also continually considering convenient cooking and packaging methods that U.S. consumers value."
However, as production increases to meet local demand, there are tasks the plant needs to solve. A prime example is securing skilled workers. More than 600 people work at the Beaumont plant. About 70% of the dumpling production process is automated, but workers could be seen moving along the lines to manage individual equipment or check production. Workers were also assigned to the box packaging line where robotic arms had been introduced.
According to officials, in the United States a significant number of production workers are paid weekly and not a few quit after short stints, making it difficult to secure skilled labor. Even with the same automated equipment, the situation requires two to three times more personnel than in Korea. A CJ CheilJedang official said, "We are expanding automation while also working to improve the proficiency of local employees."