[Report] Export Base of Buldak Bokkeummyeon Captivating Southeast Asia... Building a 1 Trillion Won Industry in Miryang

Completion of Miryang Plant in May Last Year to Expand Exports
Adjacent to Busan Port to Reduce Logistics Costs
Automated Production of 800 Bags of Bagged Ramen per Minute

"About 99% of the products produced at this Miryang factory are exported overseas."

Samyang Foods' Miryang factory was planned as a kind of export forward base to respond to the export growth trend that began in earnest in 2016. Samyang Foods' overseas sales soared from 93 billion KRW in 2016 to 200.1 billion KRW in 2018, driven by the popularity of Buldak Bokkeum Myun mainly in China and Southeast Asia. However, the production capacity of the existing Wonju and Iksan factories was insufficient to properly handle the increasing export volume.

Accordingly, Samyang Foods decided to establish a new factory in 2019 and invested a total of 240 billion KRW to complete the Miryang factory in May last year, with a total floor area of 70,303 square meters. The main products currently produced include the export Buldak series such as 'Original Buldak Bokkeum Myun' and 'Carbo Buldak Bokkeum Myun,' export-only brand 'Tangle' products, and domestic brand 'Coutique' products.

The selection of Miryang as the site for the new factory was also due to its location optimized for exports. Miryang is adjacent to Busan Port, which reduces logistics costs compared to producing products in Wonju and transporting them to Busan Port. Park In-su, the factory manager of the Miryang plant, said, "By relocating production facilities to Miryang, we save about 650,000 KRW per container, totaling around 3 billion KRW annually, reducing inland export transportation costs by approximately 63.1%."

The noodles, fried at high temperature for 60 seconds using palm oil in the frying process, are moving to the next stage.

The first impression of the production line at Samyang Foods' Miryang factory in Gyeongnam, visited on the 21st, was like a smoothly operating immigration office. That morning, Original Buldak Bokkeum Myun, destined for export to China, was being prepared for departure, dressed in black packaging. The Miryang factory has a total of four production lines: three for fried noodles and one for dried noodles. The production lines proceed swiftly from the northwest to the southeast of the factory through eight processes, including dough making, steaming the noodles, cutting the noodles by product type, and frying the noodles in oil.

As a state-of-the-art smart factory that began operations last year, most of the production processes at Miryang are carried out through automated equipment. The number of workers on the production lines was small enough to count on one hand; rather than directly participating in production, a minimal number of personnel per line perform product inspection roles. Currently, about 10 people per production line are regularly assigned and operating.

By applying the latest automation equipment and management systems throughout the entire process from raw material receipt to finished product production and shipment, production efficiency has been maximized. Factory manager Park explained, "At the Miryang factory, about 800 packs of bagged ramen are produced per minute, totaling approximately 56 million packs per month. This is about twice the production volume of the existing Wonju factory and four times that of the Iksan factory." The current annual maximum production capacity of the Miryang factory is about 672 million units, and with the completion of the Miryang factory, the total production volume, which was about 1.44 billion units, has increased to nearly 2 billion units.

Samyang Foods aims to surpass 1 trillion KRW in sales for the first time in its history this year, the first year of normal operation of the Miryang factory. Last year, Samyang Foods recorded sales of 909 billion KRW, a 41.6% increase compared to the previous year. In particular, the export ratio, which was 25.9% in 2016 when export volume began to increase significantly, rose to 66.6% last year. Factory manager Park said, "This year, we aim to produce 450 million packs of ramen and achieve sales of 320 billion KRW at the Miryang factory alone. We are responding from a long-term perspective by purchasing land for a second Miryang factory in preparation for continued growth in export volume."

Samyang Foods Milyang Factory Exterior View

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