“We wanted to recreate the true taste of Jajangmyeon for consumers in ramen form,” said Kim Jeong-soo, chairman of Samyang Foods, during a media tasting event celebrating the 100-day launch of Jjaru Ramen at the Samyang Round Square headquarters in Myeongdong, Seoul, on October 7.
Kim expressed confidence in the product, stating, “I kept tasting and upgrading it, thinking, ‘This needs to be released quickly.’ I really enjoy eating it myself.”
His confidence is reflected in the initial sales figures. According to Samyang Foods, Jjaru surpassed 10 million units in cumulative sales as of October 5, just three months after its launch in July.
Within two months of its release, Jjaru Ramen achieved second place in the domestic Jajangmyeon market share, according to Nielsen data. The company is also nearing its sales target of over 10 billion won for the year.
Kim Hee-jung, head of the product division at Samyang Foods, noted, “After the initial online pre-orders, the first orders from distributors exceeded expectations, surpassing the supply we could provide. We are now supplying all distribution channels stably through demand forecasting.”
The launch of Jjaru Ramen aims to create new demand in a stagnant Jajangmyeon market. According to Nielsen, the domestic Jajangmyeon market is valued at approximately 260 billion won and has shown a recent decline.
Chae Hye-young, head of the product division, stated, “The Jajangmyeon market does not see many new products, and the market size is decreasing every year. We believed that with clear differentiation and strong product quality, we could make a splash in this quiet market.”
The key to differentiation lies in Wooji. Jjaru features thick noodles fried in Wooji instead of palm oil, complemented by a liquid Jajang sauce and beef flakes. The cooking method is designed to ensure that the flavor of the Wooji infuses into the sauce without draining the water.
The development of Jjaru took one and a half years. The research team visited over 100 popular Jajang restaurants nationwide to analyze frying aromas, sauce thickness, and noodle texture, conducting more than 450 sauce combination experiments and over 300 noodle combination tests.
Lee Byung-hoon, head of the research institute at Samyang Foods, said, “The first question in development was, ‘What makes a delicious Jajang?’ We believed that the balance of the deep-fried aroma of the sauce, the umami of the meat and vegetables, the thickened sauce, and the chewy noodles was essential.”
He added, “Since fried noodles inherently contain a lot of oil, we thought that changing the oil itself was necessary to alter the essence of the Jajang. We chose Wooji for its rich beef flavor, nutty aroma, and lingering taste.”
Samyang Foods plans to expand the Jjaru line into a broader ‘Wooji ramen’ product range rather than stopping at a single hit product. The ‘Samyang 1963’ brand, launched last November, has recorded cumulative sales of 20 million units and 27.8 billion won in revenue by August this year. In May, the company also released a cup ramen version called ‘Wooji Pagyeong.’
Online buzz has also contributed to Jjaru's sales. Following a video of the girl group Lissenne eating Jjaru on YouTube last month, weekend sales doubled compared to the previous week, and sales on Gmarket surged 28 times.
Samyang Foods aims to leverage Wooji as a brand asset to penetrate international markets. The Samyang 1963 brand is currently supplied to H Mart in the U.S. and Seven-Eleven in Japan. However, due to varying regulations regarding Wooji in different countries, the company plans to gradually expand into markets where export is feasible.
Kim Hee-jung stated, “We are continuously expanding our lineup utilizing Wooji from Samyang 1963 to Jjaru, aiming to grow it into a core heritage asset of Samyang Foods that extends beyond one-time products to both domestic and international markets.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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