Nongshim eyes top spot in global instant noodle market

South Korea’s No. 1 noodle maker Nongshim Co. is aiming for top place in the world’s instant noodle market, looking to beat the current dominant Japanese ramen maker in the US with premium products.

Nongshim on April 29 held a ceremony to mark the completion of its second US plant in California, next to its first factory in Los Angeles, according to the maker of Shin Ramyun on Monday. The 26,800-square-meter new production facility has boosted the company's ramyun production capacity to 850 million packs a year from 500 million packs.

After building the old factory in 2005, Nongshim invested $120 million in the new plant to increase the production of its top sellers such as Shin Ramyun, Shin Ramyun Black and Hot & Spicy Bowl. Its US sales jumped to $395 million last year, almost 10 times the $41.7 million in 2005. It aims to more than double sales in the country to $800 million by 2025.

“The No. 2 plant offers a base for Nongshim to accelerate expansion in the global market,” said Shin Dong-won, the chairman and heir of the late founder Shin Choon-ho. “Let’s aim to beat our Japanese rivals to top the US instant noodle market and become the world’s No. 1 maker.”

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Although both are classified as instant noodles, Korean ramyun and Japanese ramen differ in their packaged noodle products. Ramyun is South Korea’s instant food made of noodles that are steamed, fried, dried and added to a soup base, while ramen is a Japanese noodle, consisting of wheat noodles served in a meat-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso.

The US instant noodle market had long been dominated by Japanese ramen makers – Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd. and Nissin Foods Co. – before Nongshim made inroads into the US. The South Korean company overtook Nissin to become the No. 2 player in the US in 2017, but is still trying to catch up with Toyo Suisan.

Nongshim accounted for 23.3% of the US market in 2020, less than half of Toyo Suisan’s 49%, according to London-based market research firm Euromonitor International. Nissin made up 17.9%.

The South Korean noodle maker plans to speed up the extension of its market presence in Latin America with the new plant in the US. Its Japanese competitors currently dominate the Mexican ramen market worth some $400 million a year.

Chairman Shin has reportedly requested a focus on premium products rather than small profits and quick returns to compete with rivals.

Nongshim’s record-breaking product in the US is Shin Ramyun Black, the premium line of its flagship spicy instant noodle. Sales for this product rose 25% to $32 million in 2021.

Write to Soo-Jung Ha and Kyeong-je Han at agatha77@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.