Ramen hacks trend boosts British company’s ramen sales
By Bryan Ke
U.K. online grocer Ocado has reportedly seen a surge in ramen sales on its website. Experts are attributing this rise to a TikTok trend that has users sharing creative ways to enhance their instant noodle meals.
- The numbers: Ocado, headquartered in Hatfield, England, found year-on-year ramen sales on its website up by 50%, while ramen noodle searches increased by 35%. Searches for garnishes such as chili oil, crispy onions and seaweed are also up by 48%, 27% and 20%, respectively, compared to September 2023. “In recent years, they have been marketed on TikTok to engage younger audiences through creative and interactive content. Brands are tapping into TikTok’s short-form video format to resonate with gen Z,” Jonny Forsyth, a senior director of food and drink division at London-based market research firm Mintel, told The Guardian. Korean ramen variants have experienced a massive boom in export revenue in recent years, driven by increased demand for easy-to-cook food during the COVID-19 pandemic and their frequent appearances in K-dramas.
- Zoom in: One of the most popular hashtags in the TikTok trend is #RamenHacks, which has over 22,000 posts. Here, users demonstrate and teach others how to elevate their instant ramen by incorporating ingredients such as eggs, sesame oil, chili oil, green onions and Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise. Adding a bit of the water used to cook the noodles is optional to create a broth. Some users have taken the trend further by including less traditional ramen add-ons like poached eggs, dumplings or spam into their dishes. It is unclear when exactly such hacks started trending on social media, as some TikTok posts date back to August 2021.
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