Gumi Ramen Festival Draws Thousands as Nongshim’s Gumi Plant Powers Local Boom
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
GUMI, South Korea — The fourth annual Gumi Ramen Festival filled a 475m “longest ramen restaurant” near Gumi station on March 7, drawing about 10,000 visitors and more than 2,000 orders within hours. Visitors picked up freshly produced Nongshim noodles—Shin Ramyun, Chapagetti and Neoguri—directly from the Gumi factory and sampled creative ramen dishes like “chili burrito,” “honey pear LA galbi jjajang ramen,” and eel soup noodles. The festival, which attracted 170,000 people last year and has become a signature local event, boosted the downtown economy: cafes ran out of coffee and traditional soup restaurants (gukbap) posted long waits. Small vendors reported strong sales, with some earning about 20 million won over three days. Nongshim’s Gumi plant—responsible for roughly 75% of Shin Ramyun output—runs 16 production lines and high automation, including AI inspection systems, producing 6.65 million servings daily. The plant’s output grew about 7% annually, producing 844.2 billion won worth last year, and aims for 1 trillion won by 2028 as exports expand. (gukbap: Korean soup with rice)
