[Brand Insight] Three Turning Points Behind Samyang Foods

[Cheonji Ilbo=Reporter Yu Youngsun] Samyang Foods is Korea’s first instant noodle company and has grown into a global brand representing K-food today. The driving force behind Samyang Foods is not merely product competitiveness, but the sense of mission rooted in its founding and the spirit of challenge that chose transformation even in times of crisis.

The founder of Samyang Foods, Jeon Jung-yoon, was deeply shocked in the early 1960s after seeing long lines of people at Seoul’s Namdaemun Market waiting to eat “kkulkkuli-juk,” a porridge made from leftover food from U.S. military bases, just to ease their hunger. Believing that “without solving hunger, there can be no future,” he gave up a stable career in the insurance industry and entered the food business. At the time, Korea was suffering from severe food shortages in the aftermath of the war. Jeon concluded that the public needed inexpensive, convenient, and filling food products. In 1963, after introducing ramen manufacturing technology from Japan, he launched “Samyang Ramen,” Korea’s first instant noodle product.

His management philosophy was “Sikryang Boguk” (食糧報國), meaning “serving the nation through food.” He believed that solving the nation’s hunger should come before corporate profit. In practice, Samyang Ramen focused on lowering prices and increasing portion sizes compared to Japanese products in order to reduce the burden on ordinary consumers. Jeon emphasized honesty and trust above all else under the belief that “companies exist for the people,” and this philosophy became the foundation of the Samyang Foods brand.

However, Samyang Foods also faced a major crisis. In 1989, the company became embroiled in the so-called “beef tallow scandal.” Prosecutors alleged that Samyang Foods had used industrial-grade beef fat, causing massive public backlash. Amid widespread distrust, sales of Samyang Ramen plummeted, pushing the company to the brink of collapse. After years of legal battles, however, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled Samyang Foods not guilty in 1997. It took nearly eight years for the company to clear its name, but by then, its brand image had already suffered severe damage. The Asian financial crisis that followed further prolonged the company’s downturn.

Yet Samyang Foods did not collapse. At the center of its revival was Vice Chairwoman Kim Jung-soo, who transformed the company into a global enterprise. Kim believed that competing solely within the conventional ramen market offered no future, so she focused on a differentiated brand strategy. The result was the launch of “Buldak Bokkeum Myeon” in 2012.

The development of Buldak Bokkeum Myeon began when Kim noticed the growing trend among young consumers of relieving stress through extremely spicy food. She recognized a new market opportunity in the behavior of people sweating while eating spicy dishes to release stress. Researchers repeatedly conducted tests to develop a sauce combining chicken flavor with intense spiciness. Kim herself reportedly tasted prototypes and adjusted both the flavor and spice level. At the time, there were concerns within the company that the product was “too spicy” and “might lack mass appeal,” but she believed that a bold and distinctive brand unlike anything in the existing market was necessary.

The result was a huge success. Buldak Bokkeum Myeon evolved beyond a simple ramen product into a cultural phenomenon. Overseas YouTubers began uploading “Buldak Challenge” videos featuring reactions to the extreme spiciness, and the content quickly spread worldwide through social media. The product received explosive responses especially in the United States, Southeast Asia, and Europe, helping Samyang Foods emerge as a leading global K-food company. Today, the Buldak brand has expanded into various product lines and has become a key driver of Samyang Foods’ overseas sales.

The competitiveness of Samyang Foods lies not simply in its “spiciness.” Industry observers say the company’s global brand identity was built through the combination of the founder’s spirit of serving the nation through food, the resilience that enabled the company to survive the beef tallow scandal, and Vice Chairwoman Kim Jung-soo’s bold brand innovation. What began as an effort to relieve hunger among Koreans has now grown into a symbol of K-food enjoyed around the world. Moving forward, Samyang Foods aims to further strengthen its global market strategy centered on the Buldak brand while evolving into a comprehensive global food company.

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