Shin Ramyun Tops 20 Trillion Won in Sales

Nongshim says cumulative Shin Ramyun sales surpass 20 trillion won as of 2025, marking the first Korean ramyun brand to hit the milestone in its 40th anniversary year

Nongshim Shin Ramyun has become the first Korean ramyun brand to achieve 20 trillion won in cumulative sales. The person in the photo is Cho Yong-chul, President and CEO of Nongshim.

Nongshim announced on May 13 that the cumulative sales of Shin Ramyun, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, have surpassed 20 trillion won (as of 2025).

The cumulative sales volume of Shin Ramyun over 40 years reaches approximately 42.5 billion units. Converted into noodle length (about 40m per pack), this is an astronomical scale equivalent to about 2,200 round trips between the Earth and the Moon, or about 6 round trips between the Earth and the Sun.

Launched in 1986 as Korea’s first spicy ramyun, Shin Ramyun has held the undisputed No. 1 position for 35 years since topping the market in 1991. Recently, it has established itself as a vanguard of K-food, spreading Korean food culture in global landmarks such as New York’s Times Square in the U.S. and London’s Piccadilly Circus in the U.K.

Cho Yong-chul, President and CEO of Nongshim, emphasized, “Shin Ramyun’s cumulative sales of 20 trillion won is more than just a financial achievement; it is a record that proves it has always been a part of the daily lives of consumers worldwide over the past 40 years,” adding, “Going forward, Shin Ramyun will be reborn as the center of K-food, leading the global food culture.”

Of the 20 trillion won in cumulative sales Shin Ramyun has recorded over the past 40 years, about 40% is from overseas markets. Particularly, as of last year, North America, China, and Japan have been the core pillars of global growth, driving more than half of Shin Ramyun’s overseas sales. Nongshim has established a stable global portfolio by making the U.S. and China, where it has local production facilities, its strategic hubs, while expanding its export network to countries around the world, including Japan, Europe, and Australia.

Nongshim first entered the overseas market in 1971 by exporting ramyun to Los Angeles, U.S.A., and laid the cornerstone for its global expansion by opening its first overseas base, the Tokyo office in Japan, in 1981. Subsequently, starting with Shanghai, China in 1996, it successively completed production bases in Qingdao (1998) and Shenyang (2000). In the 2000s, it established its Japanese subsidiary in 2002, began full-scale operation of its first U.S. plant in Los Angeles in 2005 and its second U.S. plant in 2022, and has newly launched subsidiaries in Australia, Vietnam, Europe, and, this year, Russia.

To commemorate Shin Ramyun’s 40th anniversary, Nongshim plans to first launch ‘Shin Ramyun Rosé’ in the Korean and Japanese markets on the upcoming 18th, and will begin overseas local production and exports for the global market in earnest from June.

Shin Ramyun Rosé is notable for being a product targeted at the global market by combining ‘Korea’s representative ramyun’ with ‘Korea’s representative food ingredients’. Shin Ramyun Rosé harmoniously blends the flavor of Shin Ramyun, the icon of Korean spiciness, with the umami of gochujang, a key K-sauce. To this, it adds the globally recognized ingredients of tomato and cream to develop its rosé sauce. Furthermore, it maximizes flavor and convenience by applying ‘grooved noodles,’ which have grooves on the surface to help the sauce adhere well, and a microwave-friendly cooking method.

Shim Kyu-chul, Head of Nongshim’s Global Marketing Division, stated, “I am confident that the unique ‘K-Rosé’ flavor of Shin Ramyun Rosé will be a new attraction for consumers worldwide,” and added, “We will continue to listen to the voices of our consumers and further enhance the status of Shin Ramyun and K-food in the global market.”

Choi Mun-hee