Nongshim Chairman Shin Dong-won looks around the company's second production facility in California, April 29. Courtesy of Nongshim

By Kim Jae-heun

Nongshim is aiming to surpass its larger Japanese rival Toyo Suisan in the North American market and become the world's largest instant noodle maker, company Chairman Shin Dong-won said Monday.

Shin visited the company's newly opened second production line in California on April 29, where 350 million packs of instant noodles will be produced annually. Together with Nongshim's first plant in the same state, the company will be able to produce 850 million packs of instant noodles annually.

"Nongshim started exporting its products in 1971 and opened its first U.S. factory in 2005. It is the company's goal to overtake the Japanese noodle maker in America and become the No.1 in the world based on its second production facility in the United States," Shin said.

According to Euromonitor, Toyo Suisan led the instant noodle market in the U.S. with a 49 percent market share in 2020, followed by Nongshim with 23.3 percent and Nissin with 17.9 percent.

Nongshim has increased its market share steadily after surpassing Nissin in 2017 and is gradually widening its lead on the Japanese company. Last year, the Korean instant noodle maker's U.S. sales reached $395 million and it aims to achieve $800 million by 2025.

Since the opening of its first production line in the United States 17 years ago, Nonghim's sales in the U.S. market have grown nearly 10 times from $41.7 million to $395 million last year.

In 2013, Nongshim signed a contract to supply its products directly to Walmart. Four years later, the U.S. retailer decided to sell Korean instant noodles at all of its stores across the country.

Nongshim is also planning to target the Mexican market, where it sees large potential for growth.

"Mexico is home to a large population of 130 million and its market size reaches $400 million annually. We expect to tap into the Mexican market easily as people there consume a lot of chili peppers and they like spicy taste," a Nongshim official said.