Korean food maker Samyang Foods Co., which was first to introduce Korean style instant noodle ramyeon in 1963, is enjoying a new heyday with Buldak, spicy chicken favor recipe creating an addictive phenomenon in Korea and beyond.
Samyang Foods said Monday that the sales of the Buldak series instant noodles amounted to 282.5 billion won last year, bringing cumulative sales figure from April 2012 when the company first released Buldak to above 1 trillion won ($865 billion).
The super-spicy flavor has triggered a frenzied food challenge on YouTube and other social media, making growth in exports outpace that of domestic sales from 2017.