Samyang’s New Jjajang Ramen Sells 10 Million Packs in 100 Days

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Samyang Foods Chairwoman Kim Jung-soo delivers welcoming remarks at a media tasting event for “Jjareureu” held at the company’s headquarters in Myeong-dong, Seoul, on the 7th. Photo courtesy of Samyang Foods

Samyang Foods (003230) said its premium jjajang ramen Jjareureu, launched in July, has sold 10 million packs in a little over three months, lifting it to the No. 2 spot in the market segment.

The company disclosed the figure at a media tasting event for the product held on the 7th at its Myeong-dong headquarters in Seoul, where it also walked through the development process. Jjareureu pairs noodles fried in beef tallow with a liquid sauce carrying a deep meaty flavor. Unlike most jjajang ramen, it uses a cooking method that does not require draining the water, and it comes with two types of flakes: a beef-flavored diced topping made with real beef, and seasoned soy protein.

To replicate the taste of freshly made jjajang, Samyang’s developers visited about 100 jjajang restaurants across the country. They ran more than 450 blending trials over a year and a half to complete the liquid sauce, and carried out more than 300 additional trials to develop a dedicated noodle to match it.

Kim Jung-soo, chairwoman of Samyang Foods, made a surprise appearance at the event. “From the planning stage, I kept eating it and upgrading it, and I wanted to get it out quickly to bring consumers the taste of real jjajang ramen,” the chairwoman said. “The feeling as it goes down, that tingling sensation, tastes really good.”

Samyang Foods plans to further expand what it calls its beef tallow universe, built on three tallow-based products: Samyang 1963, Jjareureu and Samyang 1963 Big Cup Ujipagaejang (beef tallow scallion stew-flavored noodle), a cup noodle released in May. “We plan to build on beef tallow, which is Samyang Foods’ core heritage asset, and take it overseas going forward,” said Kim Hee-jung, head of the product division team at Samyang Foods.