S.Korea's Samyang Foods promotes Buldak Ramen in Hanoi

Samyang Foods Co., South Korea's leading food manufacturer, announced on Friday that it opened a promotional booth at the "K-Food Festival" held at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, the previous day.

At the booth, Samyang Foods introduced products such as Buldak Bokkeumyeon, fiery chicken stir-fried ramen, and Samyang Ramen, and held tasting events. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs organized the K-Food Festival to promote K-Food in Vietnam and support the export of domestic food companies.

During his state visit to Vietnam, President Yoon Suk Yeol paid a visit to the event venue on Thursday and met Samyang officials at the company's booth. President Yoon, accompanied by an economic delegation, listened to an explanation about Samyang Foods' entry into Vietnam from Kim Jung-soo, Vice Chairman of Samyang Foods, and discussed the overseas expansion of domestic food companies.

Samyang Foods currently exports its products to over 100 countries. Out of the total sales of 909 billion won ($696.5 million) in the previous year, 66%, equivalent to 605 billion won, came from exports.

In 1969, Samyang Foods became the first domestic company to export ramen to Vietnam with a value of $1.5 million. Currently, it exports products such as Buldak Bokkeumyeon, Samyang Ramen and Jjajang Ramen to Vietnam, with exports to Vietnam amounting to approximately 10 billion won in the previous year.

In terms of ramen exports from Korea to Vietnam in the previous year, 50% were products from Samyang Foods. Samyang Foods' target for this year's export revenue to Vietnam is 20 billion won.

According to the World Instant Noodles Association, the size of the instant noodle market in Vietnam ranks third in the world after China and Indonesia, and the per-capita annual consumption of instant noodles in Vietnam is the highest in the world, reaching 87 packets as of 2021.

Write to Kyeong-je Han at hankyung@hankyung.com