[Exclusive] Pulmuone Bets Big on Fresh Noodle Market... Invests 80 Billion Won to Expand Fresh Noodle Factory

2023 Completion Target... Expansion of Advanced Fresh Noodle Factory
"Production Capacity Up to 5 Times Increase"... Export Product Manufacturing Also Up ↑
Aiming to Become a Global Lohas Company... Targeting 3 Trillion KRW Sales Within 3 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] Pulmuone, the No. 1 domestic fresh noodle (refrigerated noodles + ambient noodles) market leader, has invested 80 billion KRW to expand its production base in a bid to become the global No. 1 brand. This move reflects the firm determination of Pulmuone CEO Lee Hyo-yul to transform the company into a 'global LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) enterprise' through its core products such as fresh noodles, tofu, and kimchi.

On the 14th, Pulmuone announced that it recently began expanding its fresh noodle factory located in Samho-ri, Daeso-myeon, Eumseong-gun, Chungbuk Province. Pulmuone currently operates a broth-based dried noodle ramen factory, tofu factory, and fresh noodle factory in Eumseong. The daily production capacity of the fresh noodle factory (excluding sauce) reaches approximately 280,000 units. As of last year, the export volume to the United States was about 6.11 million units.

Pulmuone plans to expand the current fresh noodle factory, which consists of one building, to two buildings by 2023, increasing production capacity up to five times the current level. The new factory will be equipped with state-of-the-art noodle production facilities to produce noodles of the highest quality, while the existing factory will be converted into a facility for manufacturing sauces used in fresh noodles.

A Pulmuone official explained, "Pulmuone's Asian noodle fresh noodle products (such as stir-fried udon, jajangmyeon, bulgogi udon) are very popular not only domestically but also in the U.S., leading to significant export volumes. We decided to expand our production base considering both the expansion of domestic market dominance and export scale."

Lee Hyo-yul, CEO of Pulmuone.

Earlier in March, CEO Lee stated at the '2020 Open Shareholders Meeting,' "This year, domestic business will generate profits through continuous sales growth, and overseas business will definitely achieve 'profitability-based growth.' We have strengthened market dominance of core products such as tofu, fresh noodles, and eggs, and successfully entered the frozen convenience food market by consecutively launching strategic products like thin-skinned dumplings, frozen rice, and innovative pizzas, securing a foothold for sustainable growth." He also expressed the ambition to achieve total company sales of 3 trillion KRW within three years through the leap to a global LOHAS enterprise.

In particular, Pulmuone expressed its determination to revitalize the stagnant domestic fresh noodle market through premiumization alongside the factory expansion. The current domestic fresh noodle market size is about 265 billion KRW and has been stagnant for over three years. This is relatively slow compared to the overall home meal replacement (HMR) market, which is growing at an annual average rate of over 20%.

A Pulmuone official said, "General convenience food items show rapid sales growth due to fast research and development (R&D) enabling 'bringing dining-out experiences home,' but fresh noodle manufacturing technology has yet to catch up to the quality of specialty restaurants, so we judged that quality improvement is necessary." He added, "Fresh noodles have great potential as they can be used to make most noodle dishes favored by consumers, such as kalguksu (knife-cut noodles). We will expand the fresh noodle market through revolutionary facility upgrades."

Meanwhile, Pulmuone has maintained the No. 1 market share since pioneering the domestic fresh noodle market in the 1990s. Pulmuone's market share in fresh noodles over the past three years was 28.0% in 2018, 28.5% in 2019, and 28.5% this year. CJ CheilJedang closely follows with a narrow margin. Ottogi and Paldo occupy the remaining shares. Achievements in the U.S. market are also becoming visible. Last year, Pulmuone recorded sales of 30 million USD (approximately 37.6 billion KRW) in fresh noodle products such as jajangmyeon in the U.S. Asian noodle market, an 85% surge compared to the previous year. Pulmuone's U.S. Asian noodle sales were only 5 million USD (about 6.3 billion KRW) in 2015 but have shown rapid growth recently, achieving a sixfold increase within four years of market entry.

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