J.Y. Park Details JYP Entertainment’s Free Organic Meal Program

J.Y. Park has offered a closer look at one of the everyday systems inside JYP Entertainment: a company cafeteria built around free meals, domestic ingredients and a stated focus on the welfare of trainees and employees. The singer and producer discussed the program during a recent television appearance that followed parts of his daily routine at the agency.

A meal program built into the workday

The cafeteria is not presented simply as an employee perk. It is part of the company’s wider routine for the people who spend long days training, rehearsing, recording and managing artists. J.Y. Park said meals are provided without charge, a policy that extends to the agency’s trainees as well as its staff.

He described a kitchen that avoids MSG and limits the use of plastic and aluminum items in food preparation. The menus are made with domestically sourced organic ingredients, while the cooking process is intended to support a balanced and filling meal rather than a quick stop between schedules. The approach places everyday nutrition alongside the demanding pace commonly associated with idol training and entertainment production.

Food quality is a central part of the plan. J.Y. Park highlighted the use of organic cold-pressed oil for fried dishes, saying that the choice affects both taste and how comfortably people feel after eating. The details point to an operation that puts considerable attention on ingredients that might otherwise be treated as minor back-of-house decisions.

Why trainees are at the center

For J.Y. Park, the program is tied closely to how the company views young performers during their trainee years. He said he had been troubled by seeing trainees at an earlier office relying on convenience-store meals. In explaining the current policy, he emphasized a sense of responsibility toward people whose families have entrusted them to the agency, regardless of whether they eventually debut.

That view has shaped the cafeteria into more than a dining room. It is presented as one piece of a support structure that also includes health monitoring and required reading. The message is practical as much as symbolic: trainees can spend years preparing for a debut, often while balancing intensive vocal, dance and performance schedules, so consistent access to food can have a direct effect on their daily routine.

The agency’s investment also reflects the scale involved in serving a large workplace regularly. J.Y. Park said the company spent about 220 million won on kimchi alone in the previous year, citing the higher cost of organic ingredients. While the figure is striking, it illustrates how food expenses rise when a company commits to using premium products across an entire cafeteria rather than only for special events.

Expansion plans point to a long-term commitment

The meal program is expected to grow with JYP Entertainment’s next office move. J.Y. Park said the kitchen is planned to become three times larger, with the company also seeking approval to provide lunchboxes. Those plans suggest that the existing cafeteria model is being treated as infrastructure worth expanding, not a temporary benefit.

In an industry where public attention is often fixed on releases, performances and tour schedules, the story offers a different view of the systems that support artists before they reach the stage. A well-run cafeteria does not determine an artist’s career, but it can shape the everyday environment in which performers and staff work.

As JYP Entertainment prepares for its next phase of growth, its dining program stands as a reminder that the routines behind K-pop include far more than practice rooms and recording booths. For trainees in particular, a reliable free meal may be one of the most concrete forms of support available during a formative and uncertain period.