Samyang Foods aims to grow Buldak sauce into $75 mn brand

South Korea's Samyang Foods Co. announced on Monday that it will strengthen its sauce business centered around its popular Buldak (hot chicken flavor) sauce, as part of its efforts to discover new growth drivers.

According to the company's business report, sales of its sauce and seasoning ingredients increased by 36% from the previous year to 29 billion won ($21.88 million).

Since 2018, Samyang Foods has been expanding its sauce business, beginning with the launch of its official Buldak sauce product in response to consumer requests for the liquid soup of its popular Buldak fried noodles. It plans to release other products, such as Carbo Buldak sauce and Buldak mayo. The company is also collaborating with restaurants and increasing its overseas exports.

To strengthen its sauce business, the company is focusing on expanding its marketing and sales channels, in line with its mid- to long-term vision announced at the end of last year. As part of this effort, the company participated in product placement for its Buldak sauce on the tvN entertainment show "Jinny's Kitchen," which introduces Korean street food to passionate customers in a small beautiful town in Mexico, Bacalar. It also plans to release a new Buldak sauce product called "Buldak Chipotle Mayo" this month.

Samyang Foods has seen a significant promotional effect from the product placement in "Jinny's Kitchen." Since its first broadcast in late February, online mentions of Buldak sauce have increased by an average of over 1,000 mentions per month compared to before the show aired. The company is expanding its sales channels by diversifying its presence in convenience stores, large warehouse-style supermarkets and duty-free shops. It is also targeting shopping channels popular with foreign tourists based on the global recognition of the Buldak brand.

The growth potential of the sauce market is the reason why Samyang Foods is focusing on its sauce business. With the rise of the home-cooked meal trend after COVID-19 and the increasing interest in Korean food overseas, there is a growing demand for Korean sauce products. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, domestic sauce production increased by 22.4% from 2016 to 2020, while the export of Korean sauce products grew at an annual average rate of 13.2%.

"We plan to continuously grow our sauce business as a new business and establish a solid position in the domestic and international sauce market by strengthening our product lineup, marketing and expanding our sales channels" a Samyang Foods official said. "We will grow the Buldak sauce into a 100 billion won ($75 million) brand." 

Write to Ji-Yoon Yang at yang@hankyung.com