Spicy Ramen Regains Ground Lost to White in S. Korea
The popularity surge of bland white ramens that had gobbled up S. Korean market share once held by perennial spicy red favorites appears to have petered out, according to data from the nation’s leading ramen makers.
By last December ramen with bland-flavored broths, including some imported from Japan, had captured 17.1% of S. Korea’s ramen market, threatening the top spots held by some perennial favorites. The trend was seen by some as reflecting a permanent cultural shift toward the subtler seasoning generally favored by western and Japanese tastes.
But the latest data shows that the move toward lighter broths may have been just a passing fed. White ramens like Paldo Kokomen, Samyang Nagasaki Champong and Ottogi Kissmyun had slid in market share to just 7.9% in April. That’s less than half of their share of just four months ago. Especially steep was their plunge from their March share of 12.9%, suggesting an acceleration of the slide.
Last year’s white surge had scared ramen leader Nongshim into rushing out an especially bland product called HooRooRook Kalguksoo, styled after traditional Korean hand-cut noodles. That product now appears on the verge of disappearing from supermarket shelves.
Kokomen, which has a chicken soup flavor broth, is credited with pioneering the white-ramen fad. Its share plunged from 6.9% in December to 2.1% in April.
A seafood-flavored variety called Nagasaki Champong didn’t fare quite as badly, falling from 6.6% in December to 4.4% in April.
Kissmyun, another white leader, now commands just a 2% share, down from 2.7% in December.
The total value of S. Korea’s white ramen sales have plunged from 30 billion won ($26.7 mil.) in December to just 11.5 billion ($9.7 mil.) in April.
Now ramen makers are forced to shift their R&D to rolling out new varieties of red ramens.
But one recent shift appears to be permanent — the popularity of cup ramen. The traditional dominance of packets containing five or more individual servings is being eroded in favor of single-serving sizes and cup ramen that can be cooked by simply pouring in boiling water.