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Why Buldak ramen is an US$8 billion brand

For now, investors know that despite Trump’s protectionism, young people are interested in exotic tastes and aesthetics, and that’s worth billions

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    • In May, the number of TikTok hashtags related to Buldak surged 250 per cent from last year, according to CLSA, a brokerage. As these ramen packs go viral online, they fly off supermarket shelves.
    • In May, the number of TikTok hashtags related to Buldak surged 250 per cent from last year, according to CLSA, a brokerage. As these ramen packs go viral online, they fly off supermarket shelves. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

    Shuli Ren

    Published Sat, Jul 12, 2025 · 07:00 AM

    WHEN it comes to instant noodles, there’s no Korean discount. Only a Korean premium. 

    Samyang Foods, the manufacturer of Buldak ramen, has gained 93 per cent this year. Trading at 26 times forward earnings, it boasts an US$8.1 billion market cap, as much as bigger rivals Japan’s Nissin Foods Holdings and Korea’s Nongshim combined. 

    This rally has also made chief executive Kim Jung Soo, who married into a conglomerate family and turned around the instant-noodle company after it declared bankruptcy in the late 1990s, a rare billionaire in her own right in the country’s male-dominated business world. 

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