Sauces have emerged as a new growth engine in the food industry. Rather than general food companies that already produce sauces, ramen makers are developing and marketing sauces to target ‘home cooks’ who are obsessed with ‘making their own recipes토토사이트‘.

According to the Korea Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Distribution Corporation (aT), the value of domestic sauce production increased 22.4 percent from 1.658 trillion won in 2016 to 2.296 trillion won in 2020. The food industry expects the total value of sauce production to exceed 3 trillion won this year. During the same period, the value of domestic sauce exports increased from 98.78 million dollars (about 130 billion won) to 183.47 million dollars (about 240 billion won), an average annual increase of 13.2 percent.

Sauce competition is particularly fierce in the instant noodle industry. Last year, Samyang Food’s sauce sales totaled 29 billion won, up 36.1% from the previous year (21.3 billion won). This was largely due to the company targeting the business-to-business (B2B) market as well as general consumers.

Starting with a collaboration with Papa John’s in 2019, Samyang Food has been collaborating with 10 food brands, including Isaac’s Toast, School Food, and Angerless, to introduce menus utilizing buldak sauce. “In the long run, we have set a goal to grow buldak sauce into a core product with sales of 100 billion won,” said an official from Samyang Food.

‘Bibimyeon powerhouse’ Faldo is also growing its market influence with ‘Faldo Bibimjang’. Launched in 2017, Faldo Bibimjang surpassed 20 million cumulative sales at the end of last year.

It is also diversifying its products according to consumer tastes. In March, it introduced low-calorie faldo bibimjang and stick bibimjang, which cut calories to one-sixth of the previous product. In addition to the basic flavor, the company has expanded its product lineup to a total of five flavors, including butter soy sauce and spicy.

A food industry insider said, “Lunch inflation (lunch + inflation) has led to an increase in the number of people trying to cook at home,” but also “more people want to enjoy cooking at home, so the demand for sauces is expanding.”