CJ Cheil Jedang was founded as 'Cheil Jedang' in August 1953 as a sugar and flour manufacturer and was originally part of
Samsung Group, as their first manufacturing business. In July 1993 it spun off from Samsung and gained independent management, changing into a life and culture group with the entrance into the food service and entertainment industries. In 1996 it became the 'Cheil Jedang Group' with the official separation from Samsung Group completed in February 1997. In October 2002, the CJ Group was launched and the official name changed to 'CJ Co., Ltd'. In September 2007 CJ Co., Ltd. again spun off as a business holding company and renamed 'CJ CheilJedang Co., Ltd' and
CJ Group became a holding company for a group of food and entertainment-related subsidiaries based in South Korea. It has four main core businesses: Food & Food Service, Bio Pharma, Entertainment and Media, and Home Shopping & Logistics; and CJ Cheil Jedang was put under Food & Food Service. In 2018, CJ CheilJedang acquired Kahiki Foods, an American food manufacturing company based in
Columbus, Ohio. In 2019, CJ CheilJedang acquired
Schwan's Company, a food manufacturing company based in Minnesota, United States. ==Businesses==