Photo by Lee Jeong-woo. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Samyang Buldak booth at the Korea International Ramyeon Fair, Coex Magok, Seoul, April 4, 2025. Photographed for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Cropped and resized for web.
Samyang's Ad Bill Nearly Caught Nongshim's
First-half filings put the Buldak company at 60.4 billion won, up 74 percent. Nongshim spent 60.6 billion. Third-quarter profit figures are still forecasts.
October 24, 2026
Samyang Foods spent 60.4 billion won on advertising and promotion in the first half, up 74.1 percent from 34.7 billion a year earlier. Nongshim spent 60.6 billion, up 34.7 percent from 45 billion. Financial News published both figures on Oct 21, from the companies’ half-year filings. Samyang makes Buldak, the spicy stir-fried noodle. Nongshim makes Shin Ramyun, 40 years old this year. Their ad bills are 200 million won apart.
CJ CheilJedang, which sells bibigo, spent 144.4 billion, up 20.4 percent from 119.9 billion. Ottogi, maker of Jin Ramen, spent 29.3 billion, up 1 percent. Newsway had Samyang’s 60.4 billion on Aug 20. The filings are from the summer. In October the spending showed up in public.
MoneyToday says 82.9 percent of Samyang’s first-half revenue came from outside Korea. aT, the agency that tracks Korean food exports, counted $1.376 billion in instant-noodle exports in the first 253 days of 2026, up 27.2 percent. The noodles were already leaving. The larger ad bill is what it costs to stay in front of that.
CJ put bibigo in front of K-pop crowds at KCON, and in August built a Los Angeles booth around Seventeen. Financial News says a Lakers uniform deal runs through the 2025-26 season. For Shin Ramyun’s 40th year, Nongshim put a giant cup on the Thames on Oct 6 and kept a Shin hall in New York through Oct 18. Both noodle companies went to SIAL Paris, a big food fair that ran through Oct 21. Nongshim set an instant-ramen cooker on the Seine. Samyang took a booth there for the first time, and chairman Kim Jung-soo went. In Seoul, the new Myeongdong headquarters has Pepo Lounge, a character room for visitors.
In 2021 Samyang’s advertising for the whole year was 15.1 billion won. Last year it was 80.8 billion. This half is already 60.4 billion. Nongshim had been cutting its annual bill, from 147.5 billion in 2022 to 98 billion last year. Newsway ties this year’s increase to the anniversary.
On Oct 18 MoneyToday published FnGuide’s average of broker forecasts. Samyang’s third-quarter operating profit is 187.1 billion won on that average, up 42.9 percent, from revenue of 819 billion, up 29.6 percent. Nongshim’s profit is 62.2 billion, up 14.5 percent, from revenue of 929.4 billion. CJ’s food profit, with logistics kept separate, is 194.1 billion, down 4 percent, from revenue of 4.2 trillion won. The companies are expected to report in early November.
The ad numbers are already filed. The profit numbers wait until then.