Samyang Food Group Officially Changes Group Name on 60th Anniversary
Expands from Ramen Focus to Food and Science Combined Areas
Growth Centered on Food Care and Etertainment
Plans to Grow Buldak Brand to 1 Trillion Won Scale through Miryang Second Factory
Samyang Food Group has officially changed its group name to Samyang Round Square. While the former Samyang Food Group grew into a company with nearly 1 trillion KRW in annual sales through a ramen-centered business structure, Samyang Round Square plans to pioneer a new field combining food and science and leap forward as a global top 100 comprehensive food company.
On the morning of the 14th, Samyang Round Square held a vision declaration ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of Samyang Ramen’s launch in Ikseon-dong, Jongno-gu. The ceremony was attended by key group executives and employees, including Kim Jeong-su, Vice Chairman of Samyang Round Square, Kim Dong-chan, CEO of Samyang Foods, and Jeong Woo-jong, CEO of Samyang Ani, where the official group name change was announced.
New Samyang, Growing on Two Pillars: Food Care and EATertainment
On this day, Samyang Round Square unveiled a new future vision: “Creating a more evolved food that the current era needs based on convergent thinking that transcends the boundaries of food and science.” The vision, derived from the company image (CI) elements of Square and Round, emphasized growth centered on two pillars: science and technology-based ‘Food Care’ and culture and arts-based ‘EATertainment.’
Key strategic business areas to realize the new vision include ▲developing customized foods through microbiome (gut microorganisms) research ▲plant-based protein ▲building content platforms and global commerce for enjoyable food culture ▲focusing on carbon reduction business capabilities.
First, ‘Samyang Square Lab’ (formerly Samyang Central Research Institute) plans to develop personalized foods based on biological data such as microbiomes and provide solutions to realize ‘Food Care,’ which prevents diseases through food.
Kim Hong-beom, Director of Samyang Square Lab, said, “As times change, food is gaining attention as a preventive solution to diseases. We will contribute to the paradigm shift in healthcare by providing customized solutions based on microbiome data.” He added, “Specifically, we have started building gut microbiome metadata in collaboration with medical institutions and are developing foods utilizing this data. We aim to build comprehensive data encompassing not only data collection but also human big data such as genomics to apply it to food development.”
Jeon Byung-woo, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Samyang Round Square, is presenting future strategies at the Samyang Round Square Vision Declaration Ceremony held on the 14th in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Additionally, ‘Samyang Round Hill’ (formerly Samyang Ranch) operates wellness programs to maintain the body’s ecosystem health through proper food intake. The ambition is to transform Samyang Round Hill into a center of preventive medicine by proposing preventive solutions.
Jeon Byung-woo, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Samyang Round Square, said, “Under the premise that the health paradigm must fundamentally change from the 20th century, we have promoted research and believe that food is at the center of the health ecosystem as a medium. Samyang Round Square will focus on the power of food to pioneer a new Food Care paradigm.” He added, “We want to instill a new healthy inertia in consumers’ lives by gaining new wellness routines in the recovery environment called the ranch. We will make the ranch Round Hill a center of preventive medicine so consumers can experience this Food Care concept more familiarly.”
Furthermore, to expand the plant-based protein business, technology research on soybeans, a high-protein raw material, will be strengthened. Using this, the company plans to focus on developing various foods such as alternative meats, protein-enhanced ramen, rice, snacks, tofu, and falafel?protein home meal replacements (HMR) that are similar to but different from meat.
Samyang Ani aims to spread the appeal of Korean food through digital content and the influence of e-commerce, forming a culture and community that global consumers can relate to. To this end, it plans to build a global commerce platform encompassing influential media platforms, K-Spicy, and further K-Brands, realizing EATertainment where K-Food becomes a daily challenge and joy for consumers worldwide.
Jeong Woo-jong, CEO of Samyang Ani, said, “Over the past 10 years, through Buldak, we realized a very important fact: the joy of eating, that is, the value of playing with food.” He explained, “In this context, Samyang’s future content business will spread the charm of food through digital content and e-commerce influence, strengthening EATertainment that forms a culture and community that global consumers can empathize with. Specifically, we will produce food content based on digital content centered on YouTube to build an influential content platform and plan to establish a global K-Culture commerce platform focusing on Koreans’ spicy taste.”
Moreover, Samyang Round Square plans to strengthen research on carbon reduction through the vast grasslands and soil greenhouse gas fixation effects of Samyang Round Hill and methane nutrient organisms.
Earlier, in July, Samyang Food Group changed the names of the group and its holding company, Samyang Naturals, to Samyang Round Square. This was to establish a new identity and vision reflecting dynamic changes such as increased recognition as a representative K-Food company domestically and internationally over the past decade, being the top exporter, and the prospect of achieving 1 trillion KRW in sales within the year.
The new name Samyang Round Square combines the corporate philosophy ‘Samyang (三養),’ meaning enriching sky, earth, and people; ‘Round,’ meaning food that fills physical and mental hunger and connects people; and ‘Square,’ meaning science that improves life through innovation and order. Based on the founding spirit of Samyang Foods, it embodies the group’s will to pioneer a broader food domain by fusing heterogeneous elements such as food culture and science and contribute to the progress of the world.
Vice Chairman Kim Jeong-su: “We Will Make Buldak Bokkeum Myun a 1 Trillion KRW Brand”
On this day, Kim Jeong-su, Vice Chairman of Samyang Round Square, also revealed plans to grow Samyang Foods’ ‘Buldak Bokkeum Myun’ into a brand with 1 trillion KRW in sales through the construction of a second factory in Miryang.
Kim Jeong-su, Vice Chairman of Samyang Round Square, is explaining the future vision at the Samyang Ramen 60th Anniversary Vision Declaration Ceremony held on the 14th in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Vice Chairman Kim explained the background of the decision to build the second Miryang factory: “We planned the first Miryang factory from 2019 and completed it in May last year. Even though it has been just over a year since completion, the factory’s operating rate has already reached its maximum. Nevertheless, due to the continued surge in demand for Buldak Bokkeum Myun products overseas, we decided to establish the second factory.”
He added, “Once the second factory is operational, it will be an export-specialized factory like the first one. Through this, we will attempt to achieve 1 trillion KRW in sales for Buldak Bokkeum Myun.” Vice Chairman Kim also mentioned that the second Miryang factory is scheduled to be completed by June 2025.
Earlier, Samyang Foods announced through a disclosure last month that it would invest 159 billion KRW in new facilities. The plan is to build a second factory in Miryang with five production lines. This will be constructed on the site of the Miryang factory completed in May last year, marking a large-scale facility investment just one year after the factory’s completion.
The decision to build an additional factory just one year after operation is interpreted as Vice Chairman Kim’s bold decision to solidify the company’s position as an export company amid the continued export boom of key products such as Buldak Bokkeum Myun. Launched in 2012, Buldak Bokkeum Myun’s exports surpassed domestic sales in 2017, growing into a brand with overseas sales of 480 billion KRW and combined sales of 610 billion KRW last year.
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