A consumer browses shelves stocked with instant noodle products at a supermarket in Seoul on April 6, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of instant noodles in South Korea soared to a fresh all-time high in the first half of the year due to the coronavirus outbreak, data showed Thursday.
Local shipments of instant noodles, or “ramyeon” in Korean, came to 1.13 trillion won (US$950 million) in the January-June period, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Nielsen Korea and released by industry leader Nongshim Co.
The first-half tally represents the largest half-year sales figure on record.
Nongshim said instant noodle sales increased sharply in the first half as the coronavirus forced people to stay home longer.
“The first-half data clearly shows that instant noodles sell well during a crisis. Online ramyeon sales rose sharply thanks to increased contact-free consumption due to COVID-19,” it said.
Nongshim said its flagship instant noodles Shinramyeon and other steady sellers saw their sales grow at double-digit rates in the first half.
The data also showed consumption of cup noodles falling in the first half due to decreased outdoor activity due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Cup noodles accounted for 34.3 percent of total instant noodle sales in the first half, down from 37.5 percent last year.
(Yonhap)
