[Report] The World's Longest Ramen Restaurant... "It Makes Your Mouth Water"

'2024 Gumi Ramyeon Festival' Held in Gumi from 1st to 3rd
Planned to Promote Local Industry through Ramyeon
Nongshim Participates as Official Sponsor under the Banner of Community Coexistence

"As a regional festival enthusiast, I came to check out the Ramen Festival as well. There were many unique ramen varieties I had never seen before, so it was worth traveling diligently from afar since morning."

[Report] The World's Longest Ramen Restaurant... "It Makes Your Mouth Water"

Visitors are making their own ramen at the '2024 Gumi Ramen Festival.'
[Photo by Gu Eun-mo]

At the '2024 Gumi Ramen Festival' held on the 1st in Gumi City, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Lee Sojin said, "Ramen is a food that can be infinitely expanded." She added, "I usually visit regional festivals to get some fresh air and enjoy small pleasures, so I tend to go whenever I get the chance. Today, I suggested to my boyfriend that we try any interesting ramen we find, so we came together, and it seems to have lived up to our expectations."

Jung Seunghyun, who came along, said, "I usually enjoy eating ramen, but I came with some skepticism about going to a festival for it. I was surprised by the larger scale than expected," and added, "I bought freshly fried ramen and want to hurry home to compare it with the regular ramen."

At this festival, Nongshim Gumi Factory sells ramen fried on the same day, and even on this day, there was a long line to purchase freshly produced ramen and arrange for delivery, showing its high popularity.

A long queue has formed to purchase ramen produced on the same day at the '2024 Gumi Ramen Festival.'
[Photo by Gu Eun-mo]

The Gumi Ramen Festival, which opened the day before, is a representative local festival planned with the idea that Gumi City houses Nongshim’s Gumi Factory, the largest ramen production plant in Korea. This year marks its third year.

This year, under the concept of "The Longest Ramen Restaurant in the World," a 475-meter-long ramen street was created in front of Gumi Station, operating festival venues throughout the city center. The festival runs for three days until the 3rd along Gumi Station-ro.

Kim Jangho, mayor of Gumi City and the organizer of the festival, explained, "Many old downtown areas in provincial cities generally decline and experience hollowing out. The Gumi Ramen Festival was planned with the goal of revitalizing nearby commercial districts within the city center." He added, "About 90,000 people visited the festival last year, and this year we expect even more tourists through more substantial programs and active promotion. We hope it will develop into an international noodle festival beyond the local region."

Despite the somewhat gloomy weather with scattered rain on the day of the event, the festival venue was quite crowded with visitors. Upon entering the festival site past the entrance, the first thing that catches the eye is the 'Gumi Ramen Workshop' booth, where you can make your own ramen.

Upon entering the booth, participants are each given a transparent ramen package and seriously begin their own process. After placing the noodles in the package, they choose one of four soup types, then select from 16 toppings such as fried potatoes, dried bok choy, and curly seaweed to complete their ramen. After sealing and tying the provided string, a ramen bag is completed. Visitors carrying their personalized ramen bags around the festival site were easily spotted everywhere.

Visitors are tasting various ramens at the '2024 Gumi Ramyeon Festival' Ramyeon Restaurant.
[Photo by Gu Eun-mo]

Passing the Ramen Workshop and moving inward, the core of the festival unfolds?the ramen restaurant street. A total of 24 ramen eateries participated in this event, including 15 representative restaurants from Gumi, unique eateries nationwide, and Asian noodles from four countries: Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Orders and payments were made via kiosks, and a number-calling system was established to smoothly manage food delivery and sales data.

Yoon Sungjin, the festival planning director who organized the Gumi Ramen Festival, explained, "The goal of the Gumi Ramen Festival is to make people recognize that there are many delicious ramen restaurants in Gumi." He added, "Through visitor verification at the festival, we aim to establish many permanent ramen restaurants." He also said, "Ramen is a core content of K-food, and our ultimate goal is to foster local industries through ramen and secure long-term competitiveness in the domestic food industry."

'2024 Gumi Ramen Festival' Retro-Style 'New-Town Ramen Bar'

Since the festival was planned with regional economic revitalization in mind, the participation of local youth also drew attention. At the innermost part of the venue, a retro-style cultural space called 'New-Town Ramen Bar' was set up, where local liquor companies such as Seonsan Brewery and youth ramen labs participated to sell alcohol and side dishes. Namgung Woo-hyuk, president of 'Cooking Story' from Gumi University’s Hotel Culinary Department, who participated in the ramen bar, said, "Nine of us united to participate with self-developed menus like fire-grilled chicken," expressing his ambition, "We aim for daily sales of 5 million won."

Nongshim, which participated as an official sponsor of the festival under the banner of coexistence with the local community, also attracted crowds by offering various ramen-related contents. The pop-up store themed 'Korea’s Leading Ramen Company' featured photo zones and unmanned robot food trucks, allowing visitors to see, enjoy, and experience ramen firsthand. Additionally, a space displaying Nongshim ramen packages from different eras was introduced, allowing visitors to see the history of ramen.

A Nongshim representative said, "The Gumi Ramen Festival is significant as a model cooperation case between local governments and companies, creating a new cultural event involving the entire nation." He added, "We will actively participate in Gumi City’s representative local festival themed around ramen to expand consumer contact points and contribute to regional economic revitalization." Furthermore, he said, "We will continue to practice win-win management where Nongshim and the public grow together through various collaborations that help the local community, such as purchasing kelp from Wando and supporting domestic young farmers and beekeepers."

Meanwhile, Nongshim’s Gumi Factory, established in 1990, is the heart of Nongshim ramen production, accounting for about 75% of domestic 'Shin Ramyun' production. It is equipped with an automated system and high-speed production line, producing about 600 Shin Ramyun per minute. Currently, it produces a total of 42 products including ramen and snacks. The Gumi Factory began operations in September 1991 and transformed into its current intelligent factory in August 1999. The entire process is automated, and it is a smart factory applying five AI technologies, including hygiene procedure compliance, noodle and soup shape inspection, packaging defects, quantity shortages, and expiration date labeling inspection.