Nine team members receive Founders’ Award

Every year, we celebrate team members who go above and beyond — not just in what they do but in how they do it. We do this with the presentation of our most prestigious employee honor, the Founders’ Award.

Teams across our company recently recognized nine individuals with the Founders’ Award. Each person was surprised with the honor during ceremonies held by their teams and direct leaders.

Award recipients included:

• Kay Woo, a director of purchasing synergy who’s been with us for 21 years.
• Adalberto Ramos, an associate sanitation supervisor who has been with us for four years.
• Madeline Garretson, a human resources director who has been with us for six years.
• Angie Johnson, a senior manager of integrated business who has been with us for 23 years.
• Jon Gerken, a systems analyst lead who has been with us for 26 years.
• Chef Craig Claude, a culinary services manager who has been with us for 12 years.
• Dennis Graham, a general zone manager who has been with us for 23 years.
• Emma Buysse, a customer service supervisor who has been with us for six years.
• Jim Jansch, a field sales operations manager who has been with us for 29 years.

CJ Schwan's Founders’ Award recognizes employees who best demonstrate our core three culture behaviors of Lead Yourself First; One Table, One Team; and Driven to Win. Nominees for the award are submitted by their peers, and the final recipients are chosen by the executive leadership team.

This year, nine people stood out for all the right reasons — and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate them!

CJ Foods remains committed to developing land-based seaweed technology

 April 8, 2025 — With seaweed and Korean cuisine growing in popularity across the globe, CJ Foods — the No. 1 food company in South Korea — has announced its commitment to investing in land-based farming technology to ensure a safe, sustainable seaweed supply well into the future.

This seaweed cultivation tank is located at the CJ Foods
R&D center in South Korea.

In fact, seaweed grown using CJ Foods’ land-based farming technology could reach consumers in the United States within the next few years through the bibigo™ brand and its U.S.-based affiliate CJ Schwan’s (also known as Schwan's Company).

“At CJ Foods, we are researching land-based farming technology as a means of developing sustainable seaweed for a full range of foods distributed across the globe,” said Rajesh Potineni, a global research and development executive of CJ Foods. “Land-based farming not only provides a safe, reliable source of seaweed, but it also strengthens our competitiveness in the global market.”

“CJ Foods has identified seaweed food products as a strategic engine for global growth. CJ Foods is developing nutritious seaweed products that will offer a wide range of options for our consumers,” said Gregory Yep, CTO of CJ Foods.

The company already provides foods with seaweed as an ingredient in the U.S. through bibigo, America’s No. 1 Korean brand, and CJ Schwan’s. The focus on land-based seaweed farming will help ensure long-term growth.

Land-based seaweed farming involves cultivating raw seaweed in an indoor facility that replicates the marine environment.

Most recently, CJ Foods announced a collaboration with Haenam County and Jeollanam-do Province in South Korea to develop a seaweed seed production and land-based farming project. As a part of the agreement, the South Korean government also announced significant investments through 2029 to further develop technologies for producing high-quality seaweed using land-based farming technology. CJ Foods has also announced plans to work with academia such as Incheon National University and Jeju National University to continue research.

CJ Foods has been working on land-based seaweed aquaculture since 2018, when the company became the first in the Korean food industry to develop related technologies. In 2022, the company successfully cultivated seaweed in a 3-ton tank and developed plans to expand to 10 tons in 2025. Through current agreements and technology advancements, CJ Foods expects it will soon apply land-based seaweed to product portfolios such as seaweed snacks, a category in which it intends to introduce new innovations in the near future.

About CJ Foods

CJ Foods, a business unit of CJ CheilJedang, is a global food company delivering a variety of products ranging from foodstuffs and frozen/chilled foods to appetizers. As the largest food company in South Korea for decades, CJ Foods is now leading the globalization of Korean food with its renowned “bibigo” brand. Under bibigo, it offers delicious K-food products including Mandu (Korean-style dumpling), chicken, processed rice, Korean sauce, Kimchi, Gim (seaweed), rolls and K-street food. For more information, visit https://www.cj.co.kr/en/about/business/food.