Samyang Foods elevates market intelligence unit in search for next Buldak

Samyang Foods, the company behind the Buldak Bokkeum Myeon phenomenon, is strengthening its Market Intelligence function by elevating it to a strategic organization as it pushes ahead with global expansion.

Industry sources said Tuesday that Samyang Foods recently upgraded its global MI unit to a company-wide strategic organization. The team's mandate has expanded well beyond conventional market research to cover consumer insight, market and competitor analysis, new product development and brand strategy support — all underpinned by data-driven decision-making.

The centerpiece of the restructuring is the creation of a Global MI Center of Excellence, which will link the company's headquarters and regional headquarters into a single global MI framework for sharing market data and consumer insights. The structure is designed to support business strategy through cross-country collaboration and knowledge sharing. Headquarters will supply market and consumer insights applicable across multiple countries, while regional offices will analyze local market characteristics to support area-specific business and marketing strategies.

Through the new framework, Samyang Foods plans to build a collaborative system that continuously shares market data and consumer insights at a global level and spreads successful case studies across markets. The global MI organization will operate under the chief marketing officer. Leadership is already in place, with an executive overseeing the unit and a team-leader structure established. The organization's size and any additional hiring will be reviewed in stages, in line with the pace of global expansion and operational plans.

The global MI team will identify new product development opportunities based on consumer trends and market shifts, and will support product concept validation and consumer evaluation. It will also provide insights on the positioning, messaging and improvement direction of existing products to strengthen brand competitiveness.

"The global MI organization is a core unit that supports company-wide data-driven decision-making grounded in consumer and market insights," a Samyang Foods official said. "It will play a role in driving global business strategy and new product development." The official added that the company plans to "effectively share data and consumer insights from global markets and advance our global MI capabilities."