SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) — Food giant Ottogi Co. has made big strides in the instant noodle business over the past several years with its market share more than doubling thanks to a series of blockbuster products, industry sources said Wednesday.
Since its establishment in 1969, Ottogi had been known for such products as curry, soups, ketchup and mayonnaise, but the company has emerged as a strong contender to market leader Nongshim Co. after entering the instant noodle market in 1987.
As of the end of August this year, Ottogi’s market share came to 23 percent, with Nongshim leading with 53.5 percent. Samyang Corp. came in third with 10.2 percent.
Ottogi’s market share hovered just over 10 percent five years ago, but the company outstripped No. 2 Samyang a year later by putting several hit products on the market.
In October last year, Ottogi introduced its high-end instant jjambbong (spicy noodle soup with seafood) product “Jin jjambong” that has become a smash hit, raising its market share to 20.5 percent as of end-2015.
The market share surpassed 23 percent in the first half of this year thanks to the new product — more than 100 million packages sold in the five months after its launch.
Early this year, the new face became the most-sold instant noodle product at large discount stores, unseating the long-standing leader Nongshim’s “Shin Ramyun.”
According to the sources, instant noodles have emerged as Ottogi’s flagship products with curry, ketchup and mayonnaise taking a back seat. Sales of Ottogi reached some 1 trillion won (US$880 million) in the first half of this year, with revenue from the instant noodle business amounting to 330 billion won.
Market watchers attributed Ottogi’s successful instant noodle business to a combination of its business acumen, product diversification and effective marketing.
Ottogi said the company will ramp up efforts to bolster its market share. “Ottogi will concentrate its efforts on the tapping further into the instant noodle market and unveil new differentiated products through innovation,” company spokesman Kang Koo-man said.
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