[Edaily Reporter Kim Ji-woo ] Major food service companies specializing in institutional catering and food ingredient distribution continued to see revenue growth in the second quarter of this year. While new catering contracts and an increase in meal volumes drove sales, non-catering businesses—such as food ingredient distribution, restaurant operations, and care food services—also contributed to the growth. However, profitability varied by company depending on cost efficiency efforts and investment in new business ventures.

According to industry sources on the 10th, CJ Freshway Corporation’s second-quarter revenue reached 923.2 billion won, a 4.5% increase year-over-year, but operating profit fell 14.2% to 23.5 billion won. Revenue grew across all business segments, including institutional catering and food ingredient distribution. Revenue in the institutional catering division rose 4.9% year-over-year to 498.3 billion won. This was the result of a 43.7% increase in new orders as the company secured a series of new sites, including military catering contracts such as those at the Army Training Center. During the same period, revenue from the food distribution business rose 1.4% to 418.4 billion won.

Nevertheless, the decline in operating profit was largely due to investments made to expand the online food distribution business. CJ Freshway Corporation made Marketboro—the operator of the food ingredients open marketplace “Sikbom”—a subsidiary and invested 10 billion won in Marketboro this past April. In addition, by integrating 23 nationwide logistics hubs and cold-chain infrastructure with Sikbom, the company is expanding its “integrated delivery” service, which allows customers to order food ingredients from multiple vendors at once and receive them in a single shipment the next day.

The results of these investments are already evident. The number of products available through integrated delivery has more than doubled compared to the same period last year, and driven by this growth, Sikbom’s cumulative gross merchandise value (GMV) for the second quarter rose 25.8% to 151.3 billion won. CJ Freshway Corporation plans to focus its efforts in the second half of the year on strengthening its online business competitiveness centered on Sikbom, while enhancing its product and logistics services to improve customer convenience and operational efficiency.

Meanwhile, Samsung Wellstory reported second-quarter revenue of 886 billion won and operating profit of 48 billion won this year. These figures represent increases of 7.0% and 6.7%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Samsung Wellstory saw an increase in meal volume as it expanded into new catering locations, and its food ingredient distribution business also achieved growth in scale.

This year, the company is striving to enhance the competitiveness of its food service business while also expanding solutions that combine food ingredients with food tech. This includes introducing products and technologies that improve catering operational efficiency, such as kitchen automation devices and “No-Cook” products. A Samsung Wellstory official stated, “For new catering contracts, we will selectively accept orders based on profitability, and for food ingredient distribution, we plan to continue steady business growth by expanding value-for-money products and enhancing our 360 Solution.”

HYUNDAI GREEN FOOD(453340)Similarly, HYUNDAI GREEN FOOD posted strong results, driven by growth in its food service business. HYUNDAI GREEN FOOD’s second-quarter revenue this year reached 595 billion won, a 7.8% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit rose 23.4% to 38.1 billion won. The company explained that while new contracts for institutional catering and meal volumes at existing sites increased, cost management and operational efficiency improvements contributed to the improved profitability. Revenue from overseas catering subsidiaries reached 15.8 billion won, a 25.4% increase from the previous year.

The company is also strengthening its strategies to secure new contracts. HYUNDAI GREEN FOOD has decided to expand its in-house café business, which it currently operates for institutional catering clients. The goal is to increase the number of in-house café locations to more than 180 within three years.

The foodservice industry has been securing relatively stable demand recently, driven by factors such as rising dining-out prices and enhanced corporate welfare programs. However, the burden of raw material prices and labor costs persists, and competition for contracts involving large-scale facilities is becoming even more intense. Consequently, in the second half of the year, the key factors determining each company’s performance will be which facilities they secure and how efficiently they operate them, rather than simply expanding revenue.

An industry official stated, “It’s becoming increasingly important not only to achieve external growth but also to optimize costs and facility operations,” adding, “Beyond the stage of simply expanding new contracts, the key competitive advantage lies in how companies can differentiate themselves in terms of price competitiveness and service while maintaining the quality of food ingredients.”