Chairman Kim Hong-guk of Harim: "More Gourmet, Starting with Ramen"... Entering the Premium Ready Meal Market

"Developed for the Youngest Daughter" Harim Challenges the Ramen Market
Chairman Kim Hong-guk Steps Up as Head Chef

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] "The head chef of Harim First Kitchen personally cooks and serves ramen."

Harim Group Chairman Kim Hong-guk took on the role of head chef at the launch event of ‘THE Gourmet Artisan Ramen’ on the 14th. Chairman Kim said, "My youngest daughter developed skin spots whenever she ate ramen, which led me to start researching ramen," adding, "We concentrated broth cooked without artificial additives to create a liquid soup base that preserves the natural flavor."

Chairman Kim has entered the premium home meal replacement (HMR) market with the ‘THE Gourmet’ brand. The goal is to elevate processed foods to the level of chef-quality dishes so that gourmet meals can be enjoyed at home. This is based on Harim’s food business purpose of ‘making life delicious with natural ingredients and freshness.’ Artisan Ramen is the first product. According to the company, Artisan Ramen is a ramen dish made with broth simmered for 20 hours using fresh meat ingredients such as beef bone, beef, and chicken, along with various seasoning vegetables like mushrooms, onions, and garlic. The sodium content was also reduced to 1430mg, lower than conventional ramen (1650mg~1880mg).

Chairman Kim expressed confidence, saying, "If we cannot achieve the best taste with fresh ingredients, we will not release it under the ‘THE Gourmet’ brand." Artisan Ramen is a product developed after five years of intense research. Chairman Kim said, "It costs 120 to 130 won to make powdered soup base; can good quality come from that?" He added, "Artisan Ramen uses only pure natural ingredients for the broth, so it may lag behind in cost competitiveness, but it will capture consumers’ tastes." The price of Artisan Ramen is 2200 won, which is more than 30% higher compared to premium ramen offered by companies like Nongshim and Ottogi.

Harim invested 500 billion won to complete the ‘Harim Food Complex’ factory in Iksan, Jeonbuk, at the end of last year, accelerating the development and production of home meal replacements (HMR) and ramen targeting single-person households. Harim plans to sequentially release products such as instant rice, dumplings, soups, stews, and porridges under the THE Gourmet brand starting next year. Earlier, in March, Harim launched ‘Harim Sunbap,’ rice cooked with 100% rice and water without additives. Harim plans to improve instant rice and re-release it under the THE Gourmet brand.

They are also knocking on overseas markets. Chairman Kim said, "We are already receiving inquiries from overseas markets," and mentioned, "After achieving visible results in the domestic market, we will expand to North America and Europe starting next year." Harim has set a sales target of 70 billion won for next year and plans to achieve 1.5 trillion won in sales with the THE Gourmet brand.