Visitors to Farmers' Market in Los Angeles watch Samyang Foods' mascot for Buldak instant noodles promote its products, Saturday (local time). Courtesy of Samyang Roundsquare

Samyang Foods outperformed its rivals, Nongshim and Ottogi, in third quarter earnings, driven by strong exports of its popular instant noodle brand Buldak. Meanwhile, its competitors struggled with sluggish domestic sales.

The quarterly earnings figures come as Korea's annual instant noodle exports surpassed $1 billion for the first time ever earlier this month. However, Nongshim and Ottogi, which rely more on domestic sales, have been directly affected by reduced spending by local consumers due to rising food prices.

Samyang said, Thursday, its operating profit for the third quarter surged 101 percent year-on-year to 87.3 billion won ($62 million). In constrast, Nongshim reported on the same day that its operating profit declined 32.5 percent over the same period to 37.6 billion won, Ottogi's operating profit stood at 63.6 billion won, down 23.4 percent during the same period.

Despite their higher sales, Nongshim and Ottogi fell behind Samyang in profits. While Samyang reported a 31 percent year-on-year increase in sales, totaling 438.9 billion won, Ottogi posted a slight decline of 0.5 percent with 904.1 billion won in sales, and Nongshim saw a 0.6 percent drop, with sales of 850.4 billion won.

The main driver behind Samyang's quarterly success is its record-high overseas sales. Of its total sales, 78 percent, or 342.8 billion won, came from international markets, marking a 43 percent increase from the previous year. The majority of these overseas sales were generated by the company's subsidiaries in Japan, China, the United States, Indonesia, and the Netherlands. With its latest manufacturing plant in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, set to be completed in the first half of next year, the company plans to increase its supply to the American market.

Nongshim and Ottogi, on the other hand, have led the domestic instant noodle market for years. However, in the third quarter, this position proved disadvantageous, primarily due to rising raw material costs and increasing product prices, which together led to shrinking food consumption.

Challenges in the Chinese market were highlighted by Nongshim, with local consumption remaining sluggish, particularly in online markets. However, exports to the U.S., Japan, Australia, and Vietnam helped boost the company's overall quarterly sales.

Ottogi, on the other hand, reported a slight increase in exports and sales, but domestic revenues fell short of expectations, while higher marketing costs significantly reduced its quarterly earnings.