Pulmuone's 'Premium Fresh Noodles' Captivate US Market... Sales Increase Sixfold in 4 Years

Pulmuone Asian Noodles Sales Grow from $5 Million in 2015 to $30 Million Last Year
Korean-style Jjajangmyeon and Bokkeum Udon Hit at US Costco, Expanding Portfolio to Bulgogi Udon, Fresh Kalguksu, Rice Noodles
Extending Business Portfolio to Premium Fresh Noodle HMR Following Fresh Foods Like Tofu and Kimchi

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Pulmuone, which is ranked number one in the US tofu market, has launched a ‘premium fresh noodle’ to expand the US ‘Asian noodle market.’

Pulmuone announced on the 24th that it officially entered the US Asian noodle market, which is centered on low-priced dried noodles, with ‘premium fresh noodles’ in 2015, and rapidly grew sixfold in four years, surpassing $30 million in fresh noodle sales.

Since 1995, Pulmuone has been selling udon, naengmyeon, kalguksu, and other products mainly in the Korean-American market, but there were growth limitations targeting the Korean-American market of 2.5 million people and some Asians.

In 2015, Pulmuone officially entered the entire US Asian noodle market beyond a specific market. Pulmuone’s Asian noodle sales, differentiated by premium fresh noodles, were only $5 million in 2015, but recently showed rapid growth, achieving $30 million in sales last year, an 85% increase from the previous year. Korean-style jjajangmyeon and teriyaki stir-fried udon gained popularity at Costco in the US, driving growth.

Having pioneered fresh foods such as tofu and kimchi in the US market, Pulmuone has now expanded its business area to fresh processed foods, namely HMR (Home Meal Replacement).

The US Asian noodle market is estimated to be about 2 trillion won annually. It includes various Asian noodle products such as ramen, jjajangmyeon, naengmyeon, udon, and pho, but most are low-priced ‘dried noodles.’ To compare with Korea, most are in the form of instant noodles or cup noodles consisting of powdered soup and noodles.

Pulmuone has set a strategy to pioneer the market with ‘premium fresh noodles’ in the US Asian noodle market, where low-priced dried noodles dominate. Since 2015, Pulmuone has been actively selling Korean-style jjajangmyeon in fresh noodle form at Costco in the US.

Pulmuone’s jjajangmyeon is a meaningful product that broke the preconceived notions of US distribution buyers. In 2015, Pulmuone first introduced its ‘premium fresh noodles’ to US consumers through jjajangmyeon at Costco’s ‘roadshow’ (a kind of test event). Unexpectedly, US consumers responded positively to ‘Korean-style jjajangmyeon.’ The recent popularity of Korean films overseas, which sparked curiosity about jjajangmyeon, also played a part.

With the successful launch of jjajangmyeon, Pulmuone increased the number of Costco stores carrying the product to about 100 and expanded its product lineup. In December 2016, Pulmuone launched teriyaki stir-fried udon following jjajangmyeon. Teriyaki stir-fried udon is a fresh noodle product made with a sweet soy sauce base and vegetable toppings, accurately replicating the taste enjoyed at Asian food restaurants by Americans, making it very popular. The number of Costco stores carrying it has exceeded 300.

After placing jjajangmyeon in Costco, sales exceeded $8 million in 2016. In 2017, when teriyaki stir-fried udon began full-scale sales, sales surpassed $10 million for the first time, rapidly growing to $16 million in 2018. Last year, by increasing the number of Costco stores to about 300, sales grew approximately 85%, reaching $30 million in Asian noodle sales in the US.

In addition to jjajangmyeon and teriyaki stir-fried udon, Pulmuone is expanding its lineup with bulgogi udon using the traditional Korean dish bulgogi, fresh kalguksu, Vietnamese pho, katsuo udon, and more.

Park Su-ji, Product Manager of the Asian Category Marketing Team at Pulmuone USA, said, “The US Asian noodle market mostly consists of low-priced dried noodle products emphasizing convenience, but we judged that premium fresh noodle products with high quality would be more competitive for US consumers with strong purchasing power. Although we have been selling products mainly fresh foods such as tofu and kimchi in the US, we plan to continue expanding the product lineup in HMR form, starting with these fresh noodle products.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.