Beef tallow remains hurdle to Charrr's global expansion

Countries’ regulations on imported foods containing beef tallow pose a hurdle for Samyang Foods as the Korean instant noodle giant seeks to expand exports of its latest black bean sauce instant noodles, Charrr. The company has established Buldak as a massively popular product around the globe without using beef tallow, selling 10 billion units and generating cumulative sales of 7 trillion won ($5.2 billion) as of June. Unlike the spicy, brothless instant noodle brand, however, Charrr uses beef tallow as a key ingredient to give its sauce a rich, beefy flavor. Charrr is not Samyang’s first instant noodle product using beef tallow. The company launched Samyang 1963 in November last year with the ambitious goal of reviving the “forgotten” taste of its first instant noodle product, Samyang Ramen, which was introduced in 1963 and used beef tallow. Samyang Ramen, introduced by the late company founder Chun Joong-yoon to help feed a population suffering from widespread poverty at the time, remains a cornerstone of the company’s identity. Its use of beef tallow has now become part of