Image: Buldak ramyeon. Credit: Samyang Foods.
The Internet had a good laugh at Denmark’s recent ban of Buldak Ramyeon 불닭볶음면, notorious for a taste bud-destroying heat that Danish food-safety authorities warned could cause “acute poisoning. (TBR’s favorite of the memes: “Danes in 824 AD - We will crush all who oppose us, we fear no man, Thor be with us. / Danes in 2024 AD - Halp noodle burn my mouth.”) The ban sparked a media cycle in which fearless European journalists tried the infamous ramen for themselves. One survivor recalled: “I do remember my soul leaving my body … I do remember seeing into the apocalyptic future when the world is on fire - just as my mouth and body was at that moment.”
But for Buldak Ramyeon maker Samyang Foods Co. Ltd. 삼양식품, the ban was no laughing matter. Internally, the company feared that the Danish prohibition could inspire a chain reaction of other European countries becoming similarly zealous to protect the tender tongues of their citizenry. Despite being the maker of South Korea’s first instant noodles (Samyang Ramyeon 삼양라면, which debuted in 1963), the company has steadily lost market share and fallen to third place behind Nongshim 농심 and Ottogi 오뚜기. Its fortunes only began to rebound with its recent hit product.
Fortunately for Samyang, no other countries have instituted bans. Instead of finding itself in hot water, the instant noodle maker found itself in the headlines after the viral news story bought it free publicity: the number of Google searches for “Buldak” or “spicy chicken noodles” has quadrupled year-over-year. The news also spiced up the performance of Samyang’s stocks, which were already enjoying a boom. On June 18, Samyang’s shares traded for KRW 700k per share, a 221% increase since the beginning of the year - a performance hotter than even that of Nvidia over the same period.
