After 100 restaurant visits and 750 trials, Samyang Foods looks to extend beef-tallow ramen success with 'Jjarreureu'

[Financial News] Samyang Foods' premium jjajang ramen 'Jjarreureu' is rapidly expanding its market presence through word of mouth among consumers.
Samyang Foods said at a media tasting event for 'Jjarreureu' held at its Myeongdong headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, on the 7th, that consumer interest was surging, with the product ranking second among jjajang ramen brands in online mentions just one month after its launch last July.
'Jjarreureu' is a product that extends to jjajang ramen the beef-tallow frying method Samyang Foods revived last year through 'Samyang 1963' after 36 years.
Launched the previous November, 'Samyang 1963' had sold a cumulative 20 million units and generated cumulative revenue of 27.8 billion won through last August, demonstrating new potential for beef-tallow ramen.
In response, Samyang Foods expanded its beef-tallow ramen lineup last July with the launch of its premium jjajang ramen 'Jjarreureu,' which pairs noodles fried in beef tallow with a liquid sauce featuring a rich meaty flavor.
The market response has been positive. Mega-influencers have been posting unsolicited reviews and mukbang content one after another, drawing growing interest in the product. Consumers have also continued to give it positive reviews, highlighting beef tallow's characteristic nutty flavor and richness, as well as the noodles' chewy texture.
Samyang Foods devoted considerable effort to developing the product. To recreate the taste of freshly cooked jjajang, it visited around 100 popular jjajang restaurants across the country and analyzed the distinctive features of their preparations, including wok-fried aromas, flavor and consistency. The company incorporated its findings into the product design and perfected the liquid sauce through at least 450 formulation trials over a year and a half.
The noodles were developed exclusively for 'Jjarreureu' after the company analyzed their thickness, chewiness and how well they absorb sauce at popular jjajang restaurants across the country, and conducted more than 300 formulation trials. Fried in beef tallow to bring out a nutty flavor, the noodles were also designed to be thick and dense, achieving a chewy texture that does not easily turn soggy even after absorbing the rich sauce.
A Samyang Foods official said, "'Jjarreureu' is a product that takes the flavor of beef tallow into a new realm—jjajang ramen—drawing on ramen-making expertise accumulated over many years." The official added, "To recreate the taste and texture of jjajang enjoyed at popular restaurants, we carefully designed everything from the sauce and noodles to the flakes and cooking instructions."
[email protected] Seo-yeon Kim Reporter