Red Pepper Processing
The CJ Group (Chairman, Lee Jae-hyun) announced on June 25 that they the group held a ceremony in honor of the completion of a red pepper powder plant which was held as part of the “CJ-KOICA Vietnam Rural Development CSV Project” in Tamung 2 Village in Ninh Thuan Province, Vietnam. The plant, which processes Vietnamese farmers’ pepper, can handle up to 500 tons of red pepper a year.
CJ Cheiljedang plans to use red pepper powder produced in Vietnam as an ingredient for Gochujang (red pepper paste) for export or Vietnamese kimchi after strict quality inspection.
"We built a sustainable global CSV project model that will contribute to the growth of Vietnamese farmers’ income and CJ's food business competitiveness beyond simple donation-type public development aid,” said Min Hee-kyung, the CJ Group's executive director of global CSV said. "The CJ Group is committed to fulfilling its social responsibilities as a member of local communities in overseas countries as well."
The CJ Group has carried out a rural development CSV project in Vietnam in cooperation with KOICA since 2014. In the first project, Tamung 2 Village in Ninh Thuan Province belongs to the most underdeveloped area of the poorest households where a third of its residents have a monthly income of less than US$ 35 per capita.
CJ and the KOICA took the lead in improving living infrastructure and residential environments for local residents such as remodeling school and village hall facilities, connecting water pipes and working on irrigation waterways with K-Water. Last year, CJ Group employees collected about 10 million won (US$9,000) and donated school uniforms and sneakers to children in the village.
This achievement earned the CJ Group the Order of Friendship from the President of Vietnam in 2015. Last year, as the only Asian company, the group was selected as one of seven innovative companies that can change the world by US economic magazine Fortune.