Korean instant noodles ‘make money’ thanks to Covid-19

Instant noodles for sale at a supermarket in Seoul, South Korea Screenshot yonhap

Yonhap news agency on April 25 reported exports instant noodles of Korea increased by 20% in March thanks to the pandemic Covid-19 as well as the popularity of cultural K-Pop (Korean pop music).

Asia’s fourth-largest economy posted sales of $71.58 million from exports of instant noodles (ramyeon) last month, up significantly from $59.62 million year-on-year, according to data. recently announced by the Korean Customs Service.

South Korea’s instant noodle exports increased 35.8% compared to February and was the first time that this product’s exports exceeded $70 million per month.

The increase in South Korean instant noodle exports is attributed to the global popularity of the country’s movies and music.

K-Pop fans seem to love Chapaguri, the iconic noodle dish in the movie Parasites (Parasite) won an Oscar, and a blend of Chapaghetti black soy sauce noodles with Neoguri udon-style spicy noodles.

Korean instant noodles are also an emergency food during the pandemic Covid-19, when the regulation forced many people to stay at home, according to market researchers.

In March, China was the largest overseas market for Korean instant noodles, with export revenue reaching 19.08 million USD. Second is the US with $9.75 million, followed by Japan ($5.71 million), Thailand ($2.9 million) and Canada ($2.89 million).

In contrast, South Korean instant noodles exports to Russia fell 58 percent year-on-year, to $540,000 last month, after Russia conducted military campaign in Ukraine. South Korea’s exports to Ukraine fell to zero from $36,000 in February.

Analysts said that the number of Korean instant noodles sold in countries in March was much higher than the above figure, because many Korean companies have factories abroad and sell immediately in those countries.

According to the most recent data Instant Noodles Association world (WINA) launched in May 2021, China is the world’s largest instant noodle consumption market with 46.35 billion packages in 2020. Followed by Indonesia (12.46 billion packages), Vietnam (7, 03 billion packages), India (6.73 billion packages), Japan (5.97 billion packages) and the US (5.05 billion packages).