Korean Ramen Gaining Popularity Overseas
Nongshim announced on Oct. 5 that overseas sales of its Shin Ramyun exceeded domestic sales in the January-September period of this year, the first time since the launch of the instant noodle in 1986.
Shin Ramyun's cumulative sales in the three quarters of this year totaled 690 billion won, of which 53.6 percent (370 billion won) came from overseas markets. If the current trend holds, sales of Shin Ramyun are expected to reach 930 billion won for the whole of this year, including 500 billion won in overseas sales.
Nongshim plans to step up efforts to accelerate its penetration of overseas global markets as its second U.S. plant is scheduled to start operations at the end of 2021. The plant will help it increase supply of instant noodles to Mexico and South America, as well as the United States and Canada.
Launched in October 1986, Shin Ramyun logged cumulative sales of 15 trillion won in Korea and abroad as of the end of September 2021. This is the best record for a single brand in the Korean food industry.
Overseas demand for Korean ramen has kept growing, while the domestic ramen market has been on the wane in recent years. The popularity of Korean ramen increased sharply in 2020 thanks to the spread of Korean culture such as K-pop and Korean movies and the strengthening of online marketing amid the spread of COVID-19.