[Sponsored Report] Rice noodles gain steam

Hururuk beef jjajangmyeon

While companies that make noodles usually use flour as the main ingredient, more are starting to develop products based on rice instead. Among them, Nongshim has created some relatively unique noodle offerings, including products aimed specifically at weight-conscious consumers.

In 2007, Nongshim founded Noksan Factory, which specializes in making healthy noodle products. It completing the manufacturing line to mass-produce rice noodles earlier this year, launching Doongji rice ttukbaegi, Doongji rice jjajangmyeon and Doongji rice curry noodles.

In October, it also released Hururuk beef jjajangmyeon. Each product is composed primarily of rice, meaning the noodles are easy to digest and fill you up quickly.

The most popular of these products is the Doongji rice ttukbaegi, as consumers snapped up more than 10 million bags in just three months.

Nongshim has invested over 50 billion won since the end of 2007 in research and development and in constructing production facilities. The company has pioneered the market for Northeast Asian-style rice noodles, which have become a big hit with consumers.

The rice noodles incorporate the traditional pasta-producing techniques honed in Italy with the company’s 45 years of experience making ramyeon, allowing Nongshim to develop the first dried Korean-style rice noodles on the market.

Aside from rice noodles, Nongshim makes many other products featuring rice, including snacks and noorunggi offerings. By developing new products and aggressively marketing them, the company plans to increase the portion of its sales generated by rice-based products to 10 percent by 2012 ? up from about 5 percent of its revenue now.

A big part of this strategy involves introducing new products like rice-based ramyeon with various kinds of broth. Nongshim plans to usher in an entirely new concept in the ramyeon and snack markets, hoping to diversify options for consumers. It recently launched a product called Mi-in noodle 275 aimed specifically at weight-conscious consumers.

Mi-in noodle 275 consists of non-fried noodles and features a variety of seafood-based ingredients that are low in calories. In fact, each serving has just 275 calories, which is much lower than other types of noodle products currently on the market. Yet it still is flavorful and tasty, making it a great meal any time of the day or night. Options include noodles and soups with everything from anchovy broth to shiitake mushrooms, pumpkin and even Korean leek. These healthy soups contain 25 percent of the recommended daily adult intake levels of protein, calcium, iron, zinc, folic acid, niacin and vitamins A, B, C and E.

With these moves, Nongshim is continuing its tradition of innovating the noodle market by rolling out new products at a rapid clip. In the realm of ramyeon, for instance, it introduced the Doongji naengmyeon and Hururuk noodle brands. By offering new products and expanding into new areas, Nongshim plans to further increase its presence in the noodle market and provide better value to consumers.