South Koreans reclaim world ramen noodle-eating crown from Vietnam
South Koreans have hit back at Vietnamese claims to be the world’s top ramen noodle consumers.
On Monday, survey results released by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp showed South Koreans consume an average 1.7 bowls of ramen per week or 88.4 bowls per year. The finding comes after Vietnam boasted in June it had dethroned South Korea in the global Ramen rankings with a per-capita average 87 bowls per year.
The Korean survey was conducted on 500 people aged 15-65, with Nongshim’s bestseller Shin Ramyun being the top pick.
Korean men ate ramen 1.8 times per week while women only indulged 1.5 times per week, the study found.
Men in their 20s and 50s were the biggest ramen consumers, eating the noodles twice a week, while women in their 60s consumed the least, at just 1.3 times per week.
Allowed to provide multiple answers, 58.2 per cent said they consumed ramen for lunch, while 43.2 per cent preferred ramen for dinner.
More than 80 per cent still bought their ramen from shops or supermarkets. Only 14 per cent purchased ramen online.
Nongshim’s flagship Shin Ramyun scored top among respondents, with 16.9 per cent giving it the nod, followed by Ottogi’s Jin Ramen (9.5 per cent) and Nongshim’s Chapagetti black bean instant noodles (7.5 per cent).
Last year, the nation’s top four ramen makers – Nongshim, Samyang, Ottogi and Paldo –recorded 2.01 trillion won ($1.4 billion or 53 billion baht) in combined sales, down 6.7 per cent from the year before.
But their exports increased 11.7 per cent to $670 million last year despite an unfavourable foreign exchange rate – a winning streak for a seventh consecutive year.
China was the largest importer, taking in 22.2 per cent, followed by the US (12 per cent), Japan (9.7 per cent) and Taiwan (4.7 per cent).
In the meantime, South Korea’s ramen imports more than doubled to $12.4 million last year, possibly due to more diversified tastes among local consumers.
The Korea Herald
Asia News Network
