When cooking with canned tuna, it is common to see people squeeze out the oil—or even rinse the tuna under water—before using it. The reason is a long-held perception that “the oil in tuna cans is unhealthy.” But what if the tuna came packed in an oil you could trust enough to pour straight into your dish?
This is exactly where Calvo, Spain’s No. 1 premium tuna brand, began. Launched in Korea by CJ CheilJedang last August, Calvo sets a new standard for tuna that fits squarely within the health and wellness trend. Made with just three ingredients—tuna, 100% Spanish olive oil or European sunflower oil, and salt—it will also make its debut in holiday gift sets for the upcoming Chuseok season.
To learn more about the two people leading this effort to reshape the tuna market, we met with Choi Hyerin, who oversees domestic sourcing and the launch project for Calvo at CJ CheilJedang, and Yoo Seungho, who is responsible for the marketing, pricing, and promotion strategy for tuna gift sets.
Oil Is Part of the Dish: What Makes Calvo Different
Why Calvo, among so many global brands? The answer lies in the purity of its ingredients.
Choi Hyerin: Many canned tuna products contain seasoning liquids or additional ingredients. Calvo, on the other hand, is made with just three ingredients: tuna, oil, and salt. In particular, it uses 100% Spanish olive oil and European sunflower oil, which means the oil in the can can serve as an excellent sauce for cooking.
Yoo Seungho: The domestic tuna market has long been centered on canola oil. Calvo stands apart by using two types of oil—olive oil and sunflower oil—making the oil itself a powerful point of differentiation. It is a product well positioned to resonate with consumers amid the health and wellness trend.
As healthy eating becomes an increasingly important priority, more consumers are carefully checking product labels. In the past, simply seeing the words “olive oil” may have been enough. Today, however, consumers are increasingly comparing details such as oil grades and acidity levels.
Yoo Seungho: We see this shift not as a burden, but as an opportunity. The more closely consumers look at ingredients, the more Calvo’s simple and transparent composition demonstrates its own clear competitiveness.
Accessible Pricing, Along With the Innovation of Easy-Flip
With consumers becoming more discerning, it is natural to wonder whether the product might be too expensive. Calvo, however, has addressed this concern through a smart mass-premium strategy.
Choi Hyerin: Consumer research showed that while most people preferred tuna in olive oil, existing imported products were often too expensive to purchase regularly. The direction we chose was “Daily Premium.” We designed Calvo to offer the value of high-quality European oils and high-protein tuna at a reasonable price point that consumers can enjoy as part of their everyday routines.
Yoo Seungho: We approached “premium” and “high-priced” as separate concepts. The consumer need we wanted to address through Calvo was affordable tuna in olive oil. That is why it was important to position the brand as premium quality with excellent value for money.
The appeal goes beyond ingredients and price. Another key feature highlighted by both interviewees is Calvo’s Easy-Flip technology. Many consumers have likely worried about cutting their hands on the sharp lid of a tuna can or felt frustrated scraping out the tuna left at the bottom with a spoon. Calvo offers a smart solution to these everyday inconveniences.
Choi Hyerin: Simply peel back the thin film lid, much like a yogurt lid, and turn it over. The tuna comes out cleanly in just three seconds. Because there is no rim at the opening, it is easy to add the tuna directly to a dish without draining the oil. It is especially convenient when it comes time to dispose of the packaging. With no inner rim trapping residue, a quick rinse is all it takes before recycling.
Reimagining an Unfamiliar Package: The New Food Culture Calvo Hopes to Create
As a product sourced directly from Spain, Calvo also faced a challenge. Its packaging looks somewhat different from other tuna products, which could make it less immediately recognizable as tuna for Korean consumers.
**Yoo Seungho, who oversees marketing, pricing, and promotional strategy for tuna gift sets at CJ CheilJedang**Yoo Seungho: We put a great deal of thought into the packaging as we prepared to introduce the Calvo gift set for the first time this Chuseok. Since it is a holiday gift, we refreshed the colors of the shopping bag and packaging materials so that Korean consumers could intuitively recognize the product’s key benefits. Tuna in sunflower oil is represented in yellow, while tuna in olive oil is represented in green. We also carefully prepared an information insert that highlights Calvo’s three core features.
These thoughtful localization efforts by the gift set team are expected to create a meaningful ripple effect.
Choi Hyerin: Drawing inspiration from the Korea-specific design first introduced through the holiday gift sets, we plan to apply dedicated Korean packaging to regular Calvo tuna products as well. The goal is to help consumers recognize at a glance that the product is tuna. We will closely observe how consumers choose their Chuseok gifts and draw insights from those decisions.
Ultimately, the goal is not simply to place one high-quality premium product on store shelves. It is to help more Korean consumers discover and enjoy it more often.
Choi Hyerin: I believe that choosing a good oil is where good tuna begins. Until now, consumers may have chosen tuna based mainly on brand and price. Going forward, we hope to create a new food culture in which people check the quality of the ingredients and oil first when choosing tuna.
Yoo Seungho: Rather than occasionally choosing a premium product for health reasons, I believe it is far more important to make the products we consume every day healthier. We hope to foster a culture where consumers can enjoy tuna that is both delicious and wholesome at a reasonable price, instead of simply choosing the tuna they have always eaten out of habit.
Premium oil-packed tuna that can be poured directly into a dish, along with Easy-Flip packaging that eliminates concerns about sharp lids—Calvo brings together taste, wellness, and convenience. It will be worth watching how this fresh approach to tuna makes its way onto consumers’ tables.
