South Korean food companies that produce snacks and ramyeon have delivered robust earnings last year, driven by the global popularity of K-food.

According to industry reports on Monday, Lotte Wellfood Co. saw its overseas subsidiary’s sales surpass 800 billion won ($602 million) for the first time last year, contributing to 20 percent of the entire revenue of 4.06 trillion won.

When including exports from domestically produced goods, Lotte Wellfood’s estimated overseas sales for last year reached about 970 billion.

Lotte Wellfood’s growth is led by the well-established Lotte Choco Pie, recognized as a national snack in India, where it holds a market share of over 80 percent.

The company’s Indian sales alone contributed 269 billion won in 2023, showing double-digit growth compared to the previous year.

Lotte Wellfood explained that the growth was fueled by increased production at the Chennai factory, which commenced third-line operations in October 2023 and expanded distribution of frozen desserts from the western to central regions.

Buoyed by the success of Choco Pie, Lotte Wellfood plans to position its popular snack Pepero in India. The company aims to elevate Pepero’s global sales from 202.2 billion won in 2022 to 300 billion won by 2028, introducing localized products reflecting Indian food culture.

Orion Corp., another major player in the industry, achieved record-breaking results, nearly reaching the industry benchmark of 3 trillion won in annual revenue.

The solid earnings is led by the success of its flagship products, including Choco Pie Jeong and My Gumi, in markets such as China, Vietnam, and Russia.

Orion recorded 2.91 trillion won in sales last year, up 1.4 percent from the previous year, and 492.3 billion won in operating profit, up 5.5 percent during the same period.

Maintaining a foreign sales proportion of over 50 percent since surpassing domestic sales in its Chinese subsidiary in 2012, Orion’s total overseas sales for 2023 amounted to 1.84 trillion won, constituting 63 percent of the entire revenue.

Orion’s operating profit margins were particularly notable in China at 18.7 percent, Vietnam at 18.4 percent, and Russia at 16 percent, surpassing the domestic margin of 15.8 percent.

Orion is actively pursuing expansion plans, including the completion of the expansion and new production building at the Hanoi factory and the acquisition of new land for a Ho Chi Minh City factory.

Furthermore, the company plans to continue its revenue growth with the recently expanded production facilities for Choco Pie snacks in Russia and India.

The global enthusiasm for ramyeon, or instant noodles, also continued to grow last year, with exports exceeding 1 trillion won.

Nongshim Co., a top ramyeon manufacturer, attributed its success to the global popularity of Shin Ramyun, which accounted for about 37 percent of cumulative overseas sales in the third quarter of last year, amounting to 950 billion won, up 14 percent from a year ago.

Korean soju exports also saw an 8.7 percent on-year increase, reaching $101.4 million last year, surpassing $100 million for the first time in a decade since 2013.

Furthermore, with the popularity of frozen kimbap overseas, seaweed exports to more than 120 countries, including Japan, China, and Thailand, hit a record high of 1.03 trillion won last year.

By Kim Geum-yi, Ahn Byung-joon, and Minu Kim

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