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South Korea’s largest food company will build its first Central European factory in Hungary, creating 200 new jobs in Dunavarsány (central Hungary), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced.
The minister said that the South Korean food company CJ Foods will set up a ready meal production plant and a warehouse center in Dunavarsány as part of a new greenfield investment project. The development, worth around HUF 31 billion (EUR 75 million), will be supported by the state with HUF 5.3 billion (EUR 12.8 million), contributing to the creation of 200 new jobs in the first phase.
He pointed out that
the vast majority of the products to be produced here will be sold in Western Europe, while the company will mainly source raw materials from Hungarian farmers and suppliers.
He noted that as South Korea’s largest food company, with 60 factories worldwide, the investment was won in a highly competitive environment.
The politician emphasized that there are already more than 300 South Korean companies in the country, with a total investment of close to EUR 10 billion, making them the fourth largest investor community.
Mr. Szijjártó also touched on the issue of the population explosion, recalling that in the 1960s, there were three billion people on the planet, compared to eight billion today, and that by 2050, the number will exceed nine billion. “The food industry must therefore be considered a priority industry at a global level (…) and the development of each national economy will depend to a large extent on the development of its food industry,” he highlighted.
He said that this was good news for Hungary, as the sector is highly innovative, internationally competitive, and successful.
One of the reasons for this is perhaps the fact that we in Hungary have always treated agriculture, the food industry, and food safety as strategic sectors,”
he stressed. The minister noted that the government’s strategic objective is to create the best conditions for the agriculture and food industry, currently employing 155,000 people. “Our international competitiveness is shown by the fact that we produce twice as much here in Hungary as we can consume.”
Jeff hyokyo Suh, Head of packaged food business in EU, Minister Péter Szijjártó and Fidesz MP Zoltán Bóna (L-R) at the press conference of CJ Foods. Photo: MTI/Kovács Tamás
Finally, Péter Szijjártó pointed out that over the past ten years, 282 major food industry investments have been implemented with state support, worth a total of HUF 1,300 billion (EUR 3.1 billion). He also welcomed the fact that the Hungarian agriculture and food industry broke another record last year, with production reaching HUF 6,500 billion (EUR 15.8 billion) and exceeding HUF 5,000 billion (EUR 12.1 billion) in the first nine months of this year.
The 14,000-square-meter food processing plant will start producing bibigo branded Mandu (Korean dumplinga) and fried chicken products in the second half of 2026, helping CJ Foods to further expand its fast-growing European markets.
CJ CheilJedang, a South Korea-based global food and organic company, established a Hungarian subsidiary in February 2024, under the name CJ Foods Hungary. With the establishment of this manufacturing facility, CJ Foods will further expand its European customer and consumer base. As South Korea’s largest food company, the company had a turnover of around EUR 7.5 billion in 2023, and operates 60 sites worldwide.
Headquarters of the CJ Group in Seoul. Photo: Wikipedia
The plant in Hungary is planned to become CJ Foods’ largest production unit in Europe.
The management expects Hungary to develop into a regional logistics and distribution hub serving the markets of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Over 90 percent of the products manufactured in Dunavarsány will be sold in Western European markets, including the UK, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
Via MTI; Featured image via Pexels