"I Want to Eat Like Koreans..." Foreigners Who Once Opened Ramen Packs Now Keep Gochujang in Their Pantries

CJ Global K-Wave Consumer Survey
Consumers eat Korean food at home an average of 2.8 times a month
More often than dining out for K-food, at 2.4 times a month
Purchases of sauces and fermented pastes rise, beyond convenience foods like ramen and

K-food, which has gained recognition through K-content such as music, films and dramas, is expanding beyond a novelty that people try out of curiosity to become part of foreigners' everyday diets. The frequency and interest with which overseas consumers seek out Korean food at local restaurants have increased, and the share of consumers using Korean ingredients and recipes to prepare K-food at home has also risen to around three times a month.

According to the results of the "CJ Global K-Wave Consumer Survey," conducted by CJ Group among 7,100 consumers aged 15 to 49 around the world, respondents ate K-food at restaurants an average of 2.4 times per month last year, while 55% said they ate Korean food at a restaurant at least once a month. By country, Vietnam had the highest average frequency of dining out for K-food at 3.14 times a month, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3.02, Saudi Arabia at 2.94, the United Kingdom at 2.87, the United States at 2.69 and Japan at 1.42.

During the same period, foreigners ate Korean food at home an average of 2.8 times a month, and the share who purchased Korean food for home consumption at least once a month was also slightly higher than the share who ate it out, at 59%. Among these consumers, 43% purchased K-food for home consumption at medium- or large-sized local supermarkets. Korean and Asian grocery stores (20%), global shopping platforms (16%) and convenience stores (14%) were also identified as major places to shop. The main points of contact that influenced Korean food purchases were physical stores (26%), acquaintances (24%) and TikTok (23%). Ramen was the most commonly purchased K-food item for home consumption, followed by kimchi and dumplings, with processed foods making up the bulk of purchases. Bulgogi and Buldak sauces also ranked fourth, placing among the top items, while fermented pastes such as gochujang and doenjang ranked fifth.

CJ said, "Ramen and kimchi are products that can be eaten right away or prepared with little effort, while sauces and fermented pastes are ingredients used in cooking." The company analyzed that "this shows overseas consumers are moving beyond eating prepared Korean dishes and toward recreating the flavors and cooking methods they experience in Korea." It added, "Purchases that once required consumers to seek out specialty stores to buy Korean food have become part of their regular grocery-shopping routine. As K-food becomes more commonplace, consumers overseas are discovering dishes and recipes through content or acquaintances, then buying the products they need at nearby supermarkets."

K-food remains increasingly popular both as home-cooked meals and as restaurant fare. Foreigners' interest in dining out for Korean food rose by 5 percentage points, from 71% in 2024 to 76% last year, while the share who had actually tried the dishes climbed even more over the same period, from 55% to 63%. Interest in eating Korean food at home also jumped from 67% in 2024 to 73% last year, while the share who had tried it edged up from 52% to 53%. The surveyed consumers spent an average of $368 a year on dining out for Korean food (about 530,000 won) and $270 on Korean food for home consumption (about 390,000 won).

The same trend is evident in the "Overseas Korean Food Consumer Survey," conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korean Food Promotion Institute among a total of 11,000 consumers in 22 major cities overseas. As of last year, 71.7% of respondents said they had visited a local Korean restaurant in the past year, up about 7 percentage points from 64.6% in 2023. The most frequently chosen dishes when dining out included Korean-style chicken (28.3%), kimchi (28%), bibimbap (19.9%), ramen (16.6%), bulgogi (14%), dumplings (13.3%), kimchi fried rice (12.5%), tteokbokki (12.1%), gimbap (10.7%) and grilled samgyeopsal (9.8%).

Some 65.1% of respondents said they had tried Korean food or become interested in it after encountering Korean Wave content. The findings showed that this exposure is driving an evolution in consumption patterns, with people increasingly choosing food that reflects the flavors and ways of eating Koreans experience in everyday life. The CJ Global survey also found that the share of consumers citing authenticity - "the same taste as in Korea" - as a reason for buying K-food for home consumption rose to 31% last year, moving from fourth place the previous year to first.

CJ said, "Dining scenes in K-content are no longer just something to watch; they are now everyday-life scenes that viewers can recreate themselves." The company noted that, as a result, what K-food brands need to convey is expanding from "the taste of Korea" to "the Korean table," showing what Koreans eat and how they eat it.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.