Nongshim to launch Shin Ramyun fried noodles

South Korea’s top instant noodle maker Nongshim Co. is adding another product range under its world-famous Shin Ramyun brand: fried noodles.

Nongshim said that Shin Ramyun Fried Noodles will be launched in Korea on July 20, followed by a global rollout starting from August. The company added that it will implement large-scale marketing initiatives particularly in China and Southeast Asia, where fried noodle products boast high popularity.  

Shin Ramyun’s first product without broth will compete in the global market with the Buldak stir-fried instant noodles produced by Nongshim’s long-time rival Samyang Foods Co. 

The new fried noodle marks the fourth product under the Shin Ramyun brand after the original, the Shin Ramyun Black and the Shin Ramyun Non-Frying. The Shin Ramyun Black, a more premium and less spicy version of the original Shin Ramyun, was picked by the New York Times in June 2020 as the best instant noodle in the world.

Nongshim said that it is launching the new fried noodle product to address the rapidly growing demand for broth-less instant noodles among both domestic and global consumers.

The company added that the worldwide success of the movie Parasite, which featured the stir-fired Ram-don, or also known as Jjapaguri in Korea, has fueled global demand for stir-fried type of instant noodles.

Launched in 1986, Shin Ramyun has been the dominant leader in the Korean instant noodle market for the last 30 years. A total of 34.6 billion units of the Shin Ramyun products were sold globally from its launch date until the first half of this year, raising accumulated revenue of 14.8 trillion won ($12.9 billion).

Nongshim added that Shin Ramyun this year will achieve accumulated sales of 35 billion units and accumulated revenue of 15 trillion won ($13.1 billion).

Write to Sul-li Jun at sljun@hankyung.com
Daniel Cho edited this article.