(Yicai Global) June 29 -- Korean instant meals, such as pot noodles, have soared in popularity in China as the Covid-19 epidemic adversely impacts the restaurant industry and forces many people to stay at home. Exports jumped by 63.9 percent in May from the same period last year, according to Korean official data.

The ‘home-based economy’ brought about by the novel coronavirus outbreak has presented a significant opportunity for Korean foods to enter the Chinese market, especially in the eastern coastal cities, Park Sung-guk, chief representative of Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, told Yicai Global.

China is already the largest consumer of instant noodles in the world. Last year, its pot noodle sector was worth CNY450 billion (USD63.6 billion), according to industrial information website Chyxx.

Korean culture, including soap operas, health spas and restaurants, has always had a strong following in China among Korean communities, among Chinese who used to live in Korea and increasingly among Chinese youth who like to try out new things. Some netizens started trending the instant meals on the country’s social networks during lockdown, sparking a craze.

China is expected to become Seoul-based Samyang Foods biggest market this year, with sales reaching KRW120 billion (about USD100 million) this year, the firm said.

South Korean conglomerate CJ Corp, the country’s biggest food producer, is responding to the shift in demand and has started to move its focus away from brick-and-mortar restaurant outlets, and to the development of more instant food products.

Nongshim was one of the first Korean instant ramen brands to position itself in China. The Seoul-based firm has factories in Shanghai and Shenyang, northern Liaoning province. Over 80 percent of its products sold to the China market are locally made, said Lee Chol-geon, deputy director of the firm's Shanghai plant.

Editors: Xu Wei, Kim Taylor