Netflix series Squid Game, boy band BTS are driving a boom in Korean goods; check top 5 list

The booming global popularity of South Korean entertainment is luring consumers to embrace the country’s culture and cuisine, fueling sales around the world of items ranging from mandu dumplings to water purifiers hawked by boy band BTS. South Korea’s pop music, the success of films like the Oscar-winning “Parasite” and television shows including the Netflix Inc. series “Squid Game” are bringing once-obscure brands into the mainstream as far away as the U.S.

Here are some of the Korean products finding new customers abroad:

1. CJ Cheiljedang’s mandu

Food sales of frozen dumpling maker CJ Cheiljedang Corp. jumped 19% in Asia and Europe in the third quarter and 8% in the U.S. after two members of the popular K-Pop band BTS fought publicly over mandu, Korea’s popular style of dumpling.

CJ’s 2019 acquisition of American brand Schwan’s Co. -- the maker of Mrs. Smith’s Pies and Tony’s Pizza -- helped the Korean company increase sales in the U.S. food market by utilizing Schwan’s distribution channels and local factories.

Nearly half of CJ’s sales in food business came from overseas in 2020, rising sharply from just 14% in 2018. Since 2020, Schwan’s has operated so-called “Asian Destination” -- zones inside U.S. retailers that display Asian frozen foods, including products like its main mandu brand Bibigo, according to the company.

Unlike Chinese dumplings long popular with western eaters, the mandu Bibigo sells in the U.S. feature a thin wrap with a mix of chicken and cilantro. YouTubers demonstrating how to steam or fry the mandu are also proliferating. Mandu typically have a thinner wrap and more ingredients in their filling than dumplings from neighboring China.

The Seoul-based company had 670 billion won ($570 million) in mandu sales overseas in 2020, almost double its domestic haul. An ad for Bibigo has since September been featured on the uniform of the Los Angeles Lakers, who play in a city that’s home to a large Korean-American population.

“Food is the easiest way to experience a country’s culture,” said Mijin Jo, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities in Seoul. “The success of K-content is giving a positive signal to Korean food makers, while the global demand for the foods has been rising during the pandemic.”

2. Nongshim instant noodles

Instant noodle maker Nongshim Co.’s stock spiked after one of “Parasite”’s female characters cooked two of its products -- called Chapagetti and Neoguri -- to show how some wealthy Koreans might jazz up cheap ready-made noodles by adding expensive beef.

Nongshim’s overseas sales jumped 24% year-on-year in 2020, to $990 million, after the movie received the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020. The company believes “Parasite”’s popularity contributed to the craze for its instant noodles. It also resonated at home, with a 60% surge in domestic sales of the two products in the three days following the Oscar win.

The Seoul-headquartered firm is building a second factory in the U.S., to increase capacity to sell up to 850 million bags of noodles in North and South America.

Nongshim’s biggest product, Sinramen, is South Korea’s most popular instant noodle. Koreans’ consumption of the noodles per capita is the world’s highest, with an average of 80 packages consumed per year, according to the World Instant Noodles Association.

Chapagetti is an instant version of Korea’s famous jajangmyeon -- noodles in black bean sauce. Neoguri noodles contain seafood and spice. “Parasite” created a mix of two called “chapa-guri,” to which the wealthy housewife’s maid added expensive Korean beef. The recipe was new even to Koreans, and inspired noodle-lovers across the country to copy it.

3. Dalgona (sugar candy)

Dalgona, a nostalgic honeycomb-like sugar candy also known as Ppopgi, is resurging in popularity after “Squid Game”’s competitors famously had trouble cutting it into shapes.

Some restaurants in the U.S. are now serving the candy -- which originated during the Korean War and used to be sold by vendors in front of school gates for children to eat after class -- on their dessert menus. Sales of the classic snack surged 343% on popular Korean shopping site Gmarket.co.kr from after the series was released on Sept. 17 through Oct. 11, compared with a month earlier. They also rose 351% at online retailer Auction.co.kr.

The candy has also gone viral on social media, with people on TikTok and YouTube trying to cut the hard candy into shapes including stars and circles, just like the participants of the deadly “Squid Game.” Part of the allure of making the candy while locked down during the pandemic is the simplicity of the ingredients -- would-be dalgona makers need little more than sugar and soda.

4. Samyang ramen

Samyang Ramen -- the country’s oldest ramen brand, owned by Seoul’s Samyang Foods Co. -- was exposed to tens of millions of viewers worldwide when the host of “Squid Games”’s deadly follies suggested the show’s main character taste the noodles at a convenience store.

Even before its surprise appearance on one of the most popular streaming shows ever, the company had already been exporting to 80 countries overseas.

About half of its sales come from abroad and nearly 80% of overseas sales were its Hot Chicken Flavor ramen, a super-spicy flavor particularly popular in China. Some foreign consumers have even held their own contests to eat the spicy noodles as quickly as possible -- they’re so hot that even Koreans have been known to struggle.

5. Coway air and water purifiers

It’s not just food companies that are luring new customers overseas. Korean air and water purifier maker Coway Co. has used BTS to advertise its products -- which include mattresses -- since March.

The move has paid off as Korean singers’ popularity skyrockets in markets including the U.S., with Coway reporting record total sales for the third quarter, driven by 43% growth in Malaysia and 12% in the U.S.

In one commercial the seven members of the boy band sit around around Coway’s two newly-released water purifiers, discussing which one they would choose, including whether they want a device that instantly makes ice and sparkling water. One of the singers concludes: “Why so serious? Whichever you choose, it’s Coway!”

In another, each artist dances and spins around a premium purifier model to a hip-hop beat. Then there are the ads for Coway’s mattresses, which feature the heartthrobs of BTS sleeping peacefully on their backs.