South Korean food manufacturer Samyang Foods said Sunday it launched a new spicy ramen brand called Meptaeng to mimic the global success of its bestseller Buldak Spicy Chicken Ramen, the popular spicy ramen product.
Targeting consumers' distinctive craving for spicy noodles, the company said it has focused on introducing a diverse range of spiciness for its new noodle products.
The three flavors include black pepper beef, garlic clam and chili pepper green onion.
In order to help consumers choose their favorite flavor, Samyang said it offers more specific product descriptions with different levels of spiciness – tongue-burning spicy, refreshing spicy, clean spicy, pungent spicy and delicate spicy.
The black pepper beef flavor is described as having a tongue-burning, refreshing and delicate taste, making it “good for stress relief.”
The garlic clam flavor is characterized by a "pungent taste, boosted by seafood-based soup with garlic."
Samyang added it sought to emphasize "clean spiciness" by adding vegetable soup and chili peppers for the chili pepper green onion flavored Meptaeng.
The first two beef and seafood flavors have already hit the market, with the vegetable flavor set to be launched next month.
While the globally popular Buldak is leading the stir-fried noodle industry, Samyang said it aims to ramp up its competitiveness in the spicy ramen market with the new Meptaeng brand.