Pulmuone Sees Explosive Growth in Tofu and HMR in US, China, and Japan Markets... Strong Performance

US Market: Fresh Food 'Dubu' Grows 20%, Fresh Noodle HMR 'Asian Noodle' Grows 30% in H1
China Market: Fresh Food 'Dubu' Grows 87%, Fresh Noodle HMR 'Pasta' Grows 176% in H1
Japan Market: Frozen HMR 'Mozzarella Hot Dog' Exports 2.5 Million Units Monthly, Securing Growth Momentum

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Pulmuone has overcome difficulties in its overseas business and achieved strong performance in the first half of this year in the three major global markets of the United States, China, and Japan.

On the 22nd, Pulmuone announced that its main products such as tofu, fresh noodle home meal replacements (HMR), and frozen HMR in overseas markets including the United States, China, and Japan showed high growth in the first half of the year, driving the overall growth of Pulmuone’s overseas business.

First, in the U.S. market, the main products, fresh food ‘tofu’ and fresh noodle HMR ‘Asian Noodle,’ both grew significantly. In the first half of this year, tofu grew by 20%, and Asian Noodle by 30%.

Pulmuone’s tofu sales have been growing annually, supported by the plant-based protein trend in the U.S. Especially this year, demand for tofu in the U.S. has greatly increased, with all three Pulmuone tofu factories on the East and West coasts operating at 100% capacity, and monthly exports of over 1 million tofu blocks from the Eumseong tofu factory in Korea to the U.S. According to the research company Nielsen in the U.S., the U.S. tofu market exceeded $100 million for the first time last year, and the first half of this year saw about 50% growth compared to the previous year.

Sales of ‘Asian Noodle’ also increased significantly. Since 2016, Pulmuone has hit successive hits with ‘Korean-style Jjajangmyeon’ and ‘Teriyaki Stir-fried Udon’ mainly at Costco in the U.S., and Asian Noodle sales exceeded $30 million last year. This year, following Costco, Pulmuone officially entered Sam’s Club, a membership-based discount store under Walmart, expecting even higher sales growth.

The most visible achievements in Pulmuone’s overseas business in the first half of this year were in China. Especially, Pulmuone focused on new distribution channels such as e-commerce and O2O from the early stages of entering the Chinese market, and with the increase in non-face-to-face food and beverage purchases, sales growth gained more momentum. The Chinese food business recorded its first quarterly profit in the first quarter of this year, and continued its momentum in the second quarter, achieving high growth in key product groups with pasta up 176% and tofu up 87% in the first half.

As the only HMR-type pasta seller in the Chinese market, Pulmuone plans to firmly establish its Chinese brand ‘Pumeiduo’ (圃美多) among the young MZ generation in China this year through pasta, thereby increasing brand awareness. Also, starting this year, Pulmuone began full-scale production and sales of processed tofu preferred by Chinese consumers, expecting to further expand its dominance in the Chinese tofu market.

Pulmuone’s food business in Japan is securing new growth momentum as frozen HMR sales have exploded this year.

Recently, Korean-style hot dogs have become very popular as street snacks in Japan, and Pulmuone has been exporting ‘Mozzarella Hot Dogs’ to Japan since July last year, successfully launching them this year. One-third of the mozzarella hot dogs produced in Korea are exported to Japan, with about 2.5 million units sold monthly. Pulmuone expects to sell more than 30 million mozzarella hot dogs annually in Japan and plans to sequentially introduce frozen HMR products that succeeded domestically into the Japanese market, using mozzarella hot dogs as a foothold.

CEO Lee Hyo-yul said, “Although there have been many difficulties domestically and internationally after the global COVID-19 pandemic, we are overcoming the crisis as an opportunity by leveraging Pulmuone’s core competitiveness in tofu, fresh noodle HMR, and frozen HMR,” adding, “Pulmuone will achieve sales of 3 trillion won by 2022 by capturing both growth and profitability in overseas markets and will leap forward as a global LOHAS company.”

Meanwhile, Pulmuone entered the U.S. market in 1991, built a tofu factory in Los Angeles in 1995, and officially started its U.S. business. In 2016, it acquired ‘Nasoya,’ the No. 1 tofu brand in the U.S., leading the U.S. tofu market, and is expanding its business to Asian noodles, kimchi, and more.

In 2010, Pulmuone established ‘Pumeiduo (圃美多) Foods’ in Beijing and Shanghai, officially entering the Chinese market. It manufactures and sells tofu, pasta, and other products at its Beijing factory, recording its first profit in the first quarter this year, 10 years after entering the market.

Additionally, Pulmuone acquired Asahi Food Industry, the fourth-largest tofu company in Japan, in 2014, and generates over 100 billion won in annual sales mainly from tofu and yubu in Japan. Recently, it has pioneered the Japanese frozen HMR market led by mozzarella hot dogs, creating new growth momentum.

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