Japan’s Nissin Rides the K-Noodle Wave: A Head-to-Head Battle with Nongshim and Samyang Foods in Latin America’s Largest Market

[Financial News] A Japanese food company has thrown down the gauntlet to Korean companies’ K-noodles in the Latin American market with Korean-style instant noodles. Nissin, Japan’s leading food company and the developer of the world’s first instant noodles, is targeting the Latin American market with products modeled on the K-noodle style that has taken the global market by storm.
According to food industry sources on the 13th, NISSIN FOODS DO BRASIL, Nissin’s Brazilian subsidiary, will officially launch a new Korean-style noodle brand called Geki in Brazil, Latin America’s largest market, starting in October. The lineup consists of three varieties: carbonara, spicy chicken, and extremely spicy chicken. It is specifically designed around the spicy flavors and creamy notes characteristic of Korean noodles, which have recently gained popularity in the global instant noodle market.
Geki is a Korean-style noodle brand developed by Nissin to capitalize on the Korean Wave. Nissin first introduced the Geki brand, based on the Korean-style noodle concept, in India in 2023, where it received a positive response from younger consumers. Its entry into Brazil marks the brand’s second overseas market after India. The Geki products sold in Brazil will be produced directly at a local factory rather than exported as finished goods. Nissin is reportedly planning to use localized recipes tailored to Brazilian consumers’ food culture and tastes.
Analysts say the move is a symbolic example of how the initiative in global instant noodle trends is shifting toward K-noodles. A leading Japanese food company that first introduced instant noodles to the world has adopted Korean-style noodle concepts and recipes and gone as far as local production.
Competition in the Latin American instant noodle market is expected to intensify further following Nissin’s move.
Korean noodle companies that have developed markets such as Brazil and other South American countries through direct imports will now face unavoidable competition for market share against Nissin, a global giant with local production infrastructure and a powerful logistics network.
Nongshim has designated the United States, Mexico, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, India, and Brazil as its seven strategic countries and is targeting them intensively. Samyang Foods has also established a local subsidiary in Brazil and is accelerating its push into the Latin American market. Recently, Samyang Foods completed the establishment of its Brazilian subsidiary under Samyang America, its U.S. subsidiary. This is the first time the company has set up an entity to directly manage the Brazilian market.
According to the Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Institute, Korean food companies’ instant noodle exports to Brazil totaled $1.875 million through July this year on a cumulative basis, up 124.1% from the same period a year earlier. Export volume during the same period surged 138.1% to 412,445 kilograms.
An industry official said, "As Korean noodles’ influence in the global market has grown to an unparalleled level, leading overseas companies are also actively adopting the K-noodle style. Competition among Korean noodle brands in Latin America over market share, as well as competition over localized pricing, is expected to intensify in earnest going forward."

[email protected] Seoyeon Kim Reporter