Nongshim Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean food and beverage company headquartered in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. Nongshim was founded in 1965 under the name Lotte Food Industrial Company. The name was changed to Nongshim in 1978. The current logo was published in 1991, which took a form of a seed. In 2003, the business switched to a holding company system and became a subsidiary of Nongshim Holdings. Nongshim is the largest instant noodles and snack company in South Korea. At the end of 2015, Nongshim had 2.57 trillion won in assets and 2.81 trillion won in sales. It runs 11 factories worldwide, has subsidiaries in Korea and overseas, and operates in more than 100 countries. The company is currently chaired by Shin Dong-won, son of the founder Shin Choon-ho.

History

1965–1979

On 18 September 1965, Nongshim was established under the name Lotte Food Industrial Company in Seoul, South Korea by Shin Choon-ho, brother of Lotte Corporation founder Shin Kyuk-ho. When Nongshim introduced its first ramyun, Lotte Ramyun, in 1965, there were 7 other companies in the market. As a second mover in the ramyun industry, Nongshim focused on research and development. Along with South Korea's first commercialized snack
Shrimp Cracker
(Hangul: 새우깡; Romanization: Saewookang; 1971), Beef Ramyun (Hangul: 소고기라면; 1970), and Nongshim Ramyun (1975), Nongshim achieved 35% market share in the mid-1970s. On 6 March 1978, Nongshim changed its name from Lotte Food Industrial Company to Nongshim Co., Ltd.

1980–1989

During the 1980s, Nongshim invested highly on machinery, equipment, and systems. The

Anseong Anseong () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, south of Seoul. Its geographical location is . Anseong promotes itself as "The City of Masters". It is known for producing brassware and arts and crafts. From late spring to fall, Anseong h ...

factory was built in 1981 to specialize in powder soup, used to flavor the ramyun. Many of Nongshim's famous ramyun products were introduced during the 1980s: Neoguri (Hangul: 너구리 라면; Seafood Udon Soup; 1982),

Ansungtangmyun Ansungtangmyun (Hangul: 안성탕면; Hanja: 安城湯麵) is a brand of ramyeon produced by Nongshim in South Korea since 1983, and is the third highest-selling brand of noodles in South Korea. It is made with beef stock from cows in Anseong. In ...

(Hangul: 안성탕면; 1983), Jjapagetti (Hangul: 짜파게티; 1984) And

Shin Ramyun Shin Ramyun is a brand of instant noodle (including cup ramyeon) that has been produced by the South Korean food company Nongshim since 1 October 1986. It is now exported to over 100 countries, and is the best-selling instant noodle brand in S ...

(Hangul: 신라면; 1986). Cup- and bowl-type noodles were also introduced during this period. Nongshim's market share reached 40% in 1984, and became a leading company of the market in March 1985. With Shin Ramyun (1986), the most beloved instant noodle brand in South Korea, Nongshim reached 46.2% of the ramyun market share in 1987, 53.2% in 1988, and 58% in 1989.

1990–present

On 1 January 1991, Nongshim introduced its new

corporate identity A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner in which a corporation, firm or business enterprise presents itself to the public (such as customers and investors as well as employees). The corporate identity is typically visualized by ...

(CI): Nongshim Seed. The Gumi factory was built in September 1991. Since 1994, Nongshim has used

computer-integrated manufacturing Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) is the manufacturing approach of using computers to control the entire production process. This integration allows individual processes to exchange information with each part. Manufacturing can be faster ...

for production. The Asan factory was built in April 1993, and it specializes in potato and rice snacks. In April 1994, Nongshim introduced aseptic production system for cold noodles. In 2007, The Noksan factory was built to specialize in non-frying noodles and well-being (health) products. During the 1990s, Nongshim focused on exporting and expanded their business in the global market. In July 1997, Nongshim began sponsoring the national Baduk Championship: ''Shin Ramyun Cup Baduk Championship''. Nongshim built factories in China in the late 1990s and early 2000s:

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

(1996), Qingdao (1998), Shenyang (2000), a second factory at Qingdao (2002), and

Yanbian Yanbian (; Chosŏn'gŭl: , ''Yeonbyeon''), officially known as the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in the east of Jilin Province, China. Yanbian is bordered to the north by Heilongjiang Province, on the west by ...

(2015). Originally there was difficulty entering the Chinese market until a male-themed advertising campaign for the very spicy Shin ramyun implied virility from eating such a peppery product. In the U.S, Nongshim built a factory in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in 2005.

Advertising

Nongshim has been carrying out marketing and advertising that informs the characteristics of its products based on individual product brands rather than corporate brands. It also sets the criteria that Chairman Shin Chun-ho suggested: 'Advanced ads should not precede products.

Operation

Affiliates

Nongshim has 10 affiliates: Nongshim Holdings, Taekyung Nongsan, Youlchon Chemistry, Mega Mart, Nongshim Communication, NDS (Nongshim Data System), Nongshim Engineering, Youlchol Foundation, Hotel Nongshim, and Nongshim Development.

Global operations

Nongshim's headquarters is located in Seoul, South Korea. Nongshim products are now exported to over 100 countries around the world. As of 2016, Nongshim has 11 manufacturing plants around the world: Korea (Anyang, Ansung, Asan, Gumi, Busan, Noksan), United States (Rancho Cucamonga, CA), China (Shanghai, Qingdao, Shenyang, Yanbian). There are 7 sales distribution offices in 6 countries outside of South Korea: the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, China and Vietnam.

Products

Nongshim products include ramyun (instant noodles), snacks, and bottled water. There are more than 40 brands of ramyuns, produced by Nongshim, including South Korea's most popular ramyun brand,

(1986). Nongshim has recently introduced new noodle brands in 2015: Jjawang (Hangul: 짜왕; Etymology: Portmanteau of ''Jjajangmyun'' (Black bean noodle) and ''Wang'' (Hangul: 왕; Hanja: 王; Translation: King); Translation: King of Jjajangmyun) and Matchampong (Hangul: 맛짬뽕; Etymology: Portmanteau of a Korean adjective '' mat'' (taste) and ''

Champon , also known as ''Chanpon'', is a noodle dish that is a regional cuisine of Nagasaki, Japan. There are different versions in Japan, Korea and China. The dish was inspired by Chinese cuisine. ''Champon'' is made by frying pork, seafood and v ...

g'' (spicy seafood noodle soup); Translation: tasty champong noodle soup). There are varieties of snack products includin
Shrimp Cracker
(Hangul: 새우깡; Romanization: Saewookkang; 1971), the first commercialized snack in South Korea an

(Hangul: 양파링; Romanization: Yangpa Ring; 1983), which is famous for its sliced-onion-ring shape. Since 2012, Nongshim is producing its own bottled water called Baeksan Mountain Water, which is slowly filtered by

Baekdu Mountain Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest mo ...

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Companies listed on the Korea Exchange Food and drink companies established in 1965 Food and drink companies of South Korea Food manufacturers of South Korea Instant noodle brands Manufacturing companies based in Seoul South Korean brands South Korean companies established in 1965 Shin family