SEOUL – For nearly four decades, NongShim has dominated South Korea’s instant-noodle market with its signature Shin Ramyun. But when South Korean ramen became a global phenomenon, it was a rival that captured the world’s appetite – and investors’ imagination.
Samyang Foods did it with its Buldak, which became a viral sensation with global fans filming themselves eating the intensely spicy noodles on social media. The craze pushed Samyang’s overseas sales above 80% of revenue – compared with NongShim’s 37% – and lifted its market value to nearly four times that of its rival.
Now NongShim is spending heavily to rebuild investor confidence.
At the heart of the push is a 200 billion won (S$190 million) factory for NongShim’s iconic Shin Ramyun in the port city of Busan, the company’s first dedicated export plant and home to what the company calls the world’s fastest instant-noodle production lines. The facility will boost NongShim’s domestic export capacity by 70% as it seeks to regain ground lost to Samyang overseas.
“We may have been somewhat slow in responding to global demand early on because our products were so deeply loved at home for so long,” said Songha Ji, NongShim’s head of global marketing.
A decades-old domestic rivalry between two of South Korea’s biggest food makers is intensifying overseas. NongShim and Samyang, both based in Seoul, are racing to capitalise on a K-food boom that has pushed Korean noodles into mainstream supermarkets from the US to Europe, just as the global instant-noodle market is projected to grow about 23% to US$63.3 billion (S$81.5 billion) by 2030.
NongShim’s new six-storey complex, which opened in October, is designed to produce 600 packets a minute on each line – twice the speed of conventional setups. Inside, raw dough takes barely seven minutes to become a shelf-ready packet of Shin Ramyun. Guided by artificial intelligence sensors and automated mixers, the noodles are rolled, flash-fried and boxed at blinding speed.
The factory will nearly double NongShim’s annual domestic export capacity to 1.2 billion packets, and raise its total global capacity to 6.2 billion across Korea and four factories in the US and China. Production from Busan will initially be directed to Japan, Europe, Australia, India and Southeast Asia.
NongShim aims to double global noodle sales to 5.4 trillion won by 2030, which would lift overseas sale to more than 60% of revenue. Such growth would also elevate it to the global top five instant noodle makers alongside Nissin Foods Holdings and Maggi-maker Nestlé SA.
NongShim’s push puts it head-to-head with Samyang. The Buldak maker is rapidly gaining ground in overseas markets where NongShim dominated, having already overtaken it in key markets like China and Europe. It’s on track to become the third-largest instant noodle seller in the US this year – right behind NongShim, according to Euromonitor International.
Samyang is also accelerating its global expansion, and announced last week it would invest more than 131 billion won in a new Vietnamese production line. Its first overseas plant in China is set to open in January.
For NongShim, the test will be whether the new capacity translates into faster sales growth and improved profitability. The company’s valuation could get a lift from a rebound in US sales and increased output from the Busan facility, according to Hanwha Investment & Securities analyst Han Yujung.
NongShim’s push for overseas growth has a promising early start – sales of Shin Ramyun abroad jumped 36% in the first half of this year.
Still, Samyang commands a valuation premium over NongShim, its stock is trading at 13.4-times forward-earnings versus the latter’s 11.4 – meaning investors are paying more per won of projected profit in anticipation of faster growth.
NongShim is also borrowing from its rival’s playbook. To court Gen Z shoppers abroad, it has leaned into pop culture – launching limited-edition Shin Ramyun tied to Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters and setting up booths at fan conventions globally. It also plans to roll out a new stir-fried Shin Ramyun next year, entering the soupless-noodle category that propelled Buldak’s global success.
“We cannot yet claim that we are outperforming Samyang in many international markets,” Ji, NongShim’s marketing head, said. “But we are studying and benchmarking what Samyang has done well.” BLOOMBERG
