The competitive focus in the bibim-myeon and naengmyeon markets, signature summer products, is shifting. In the past, sauces touting spiciness or secret seasoning recipes decided the outcome; recently, companies have entered a texture battle, emphasizing noodle thickness and springiness, ingredients, and noodle-making technology.
According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) on the 24th, the domestic bibim-myeon market grew from 75.7 billion won in 2015 to about 180 billion won in 2023, expanding more than about 2.4 times. Last year's market size is estimated to have surpassed 200 billion won. The industry expects the market to expand to around 220 billion won this year. Last year's naengmyeon home meal replacement (HMR) market is also estimated to have grown to about 60 billion won.
As the market grows, competition among food companies is getting fiercer. A prime example is Paldo Co. Paldo Co. holds the No. 1 share in the domestic bibim-myeon market. The cumulative sales of its flagship product Paldo Bibimmen, launched in 1984, have reached 2 billion units. Its new product this year, Paldo Bibimmen The Blue, uses a thicker medium noodle than the original to enhance chewiness. The front of the package also highlights texture as a core strength, with phrases such as "vividness that comes alive in the mouth" and "chewy medium noodles."
While Paldo Co. led with medium noodles, Nongshim expanded its bibim-myeon brand Baehongdong with buckwheat noodles. Baehongdong makguksu uses dried noodles made with domestically grown buckwheat to achieve the distinctive texture of buckwheat noodles. Baehongdong makguksu surpassed 5 million units in sales just two months after its launch. Baehongdong is a brand that grew by differentiating its bibim sauce with pear, red chili peppers, and dongchimi. Beyond makguksu, it incorporates jjolmyeon and knife-cut noodles to differentiate noodle textures.
OTOKI released arrowroot naengmyeon and jjol-naengmyeon. Arrowroot naengmyeon focuses on the firm texture unique to arrowroot noodles, while jjol-naengmyeon focuses on the bouncy texture typical of jjolmyeon. In March, it also introduced Jin Milmyeon, which recreates milmyeon, a local dish of Busan, using the noodle type itself as a differentiator. Jin Milmyeon surpassed a cumulative 6.5 million units in sales in just over two months after its launch.
Pulmuone followed its naengmyeon products using ultra-high-pressure noodle-making technology by unveiling this year's Slim Fit Kongmyeon series, a plant-based noodle line. Made with 100% domestically grown soybeans, it applies a method of extruding fine noodles at high temperatures above 90 degrees to deliver bouncy, chewy strands and texture.
The industry views this shift as stemming from the maturation of the bibim-myeon and naengmyeon markets. In the past, ever-spicier and more stimulating sauce development worked as a competitive edge; recently, noodle strands and texture—elements consumers can most readily perceive in a bite—are emerging as new competitive factors.
A food industry official said, "As the bibim-myeon and naengmyeon markets have grown, it's difficult to stand out through competition in liquid sauces or secret seasonings alone," adding, "There's a trend of putting effort into texture and noodle quality that consumers can feel immediately with the first bite."
Choi Cheol, a professor in the Department of Consumer Economics at Sookmyung Women's University, said, "Traditionally, sauce competition mattered in the bibim-myeon market, but because the core ingredient of the product is the noodles, consumers have come to recognize the noodle's own distinctiveness more than before."
He added, "It's not that corporations have given up competing on secret sauces; they are maintaining the existing sauce competitiveness while actively pursuing differentiation in the noodles' texture and ingredients themselves," noting, "Recently, more consumers consider texture, ingredients, and even nutritional factors, so related competition will continue."