[Courtesy of Ottogi]
South Korea with an annual average instant noodle consumption of some 3.7 billion units is a heaven for Ramyeon lovers. The most popular kind of Ramyeon in 2022 is "Shinramyun" (9.8 percent) made by food ingredient maker Nongshim. Ottogi's bestseller "Jin ramen" (9.33 percent) was ranked sixth on South Korea's instant noodle popularity chart in 2022, according to pollster Nielsen IQ Korea.
A Ramyeon is normally packed inside a plastic film bag printed with various logo designs and letterings. Inside the package, a square or round-shaped dried noodle block and two small packs of seasoning are included. Some premium instant noodles have more than two seasoning packs while budget products only contain one seasoning pack.
Ottogi said that the company adopted the flexography printing technique to produce the exterior packaging material for its products. The new packaging material will gradually be applied to every Ramyeon and other food products. The food ingredient maker said that by adopting the eco-friendly manufacturing technique, Ottogi will be able to save up to 1,600 tons of ink and organic solvent.
Flexography is a printing technique that uses water-soluble ink and flexible relief plates. The modernized version of letterpress uses high-speed rotary components to print ink onto any type of material. The printing method could save up to 30 percent of ink compared to conventional printing techniques.
Ottogi said that the company will be able to emit about 50 percent less greenhouse gases during the manufacturing process because flexo-printed products require less electricity during the drying process. The company has been replacing the packaging materials for Ramyeon seasonings since June 2022.