Annual rice consumption in South Korea averaged 53.9 kilograms per person in the 2025 household survey, down 3.4% from 2024; the survey period ran from Nov. 1, 2024, to Oct. 31, 2025, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
CJ CheilJedang aims to lift Hetbahn’s annual sales to around 1.5 trillion won by 2028, from more than 1.1 trillion won in 2025, The Korea Herald reported, citing a company media briefing. The outlet also reported that CJ expects overseas markets to account for around a quarter of brand sales by 2028.
CJ’s shareholder materials show Hetbahn held 66% of domestic ready-to-eat rice retail sales in 2025, compared with 70% in 2024. The figures are based on Nielsen Korea survey results for aggregated domestic retail channels as of December 2025.
Hetbahn launched in December 1996 and has expanded beyond plain cooked rice into multigrain products, cup meals, porridge and other rice-based foods, according to CJ CheilJedang. “Rice forms the foundation for taking Korean food global. Change the rice, and you can change how people live and eat,” Kim Jin, the company’s global chief marketing officer, said in remarks reported by The Korea Herald.
