Korean Snacks and the K-Wave: From Buldak to Demon Hunters

In the early 1950s, three sisters from Seoul — Sook-ja, Ae-ja and Min-ja Kim — performed for American GIs during the Korean War. They spoke little English but sang American pop songs phonetically, having learned them by ear. When they arrived in the United States later in the decade, they became regulars on the Ed Sullivan Show, appearing more than twenty times, and are widely credited as the first Korean act on the Billboard charts. Nobody called it K-pop. The genre wouldn't get that name for decades. But the Kim Sisters were already doing the thing that would define Korean cultural exports for the next seventy years: presenting Korean performance to a Western audience and making it irresistible.

The path from the Kim Sisters to Buldak noodles in a Manchester corner shop is a long one. But it is a single unbroken line.

How K-Pop Was Built

Korean popular music went through several distinct phases before becoming the global industry it is today. In the 1990s, a group called Seo Taiji and Boys merged Korean pop with American hip-hop choreography, fusing the styles into something genuinely new. They were the first group that resembled what we now understand K-pop to be. The idol groups that followed — H.O.T., S.E.S., BIGBANG, Girls' Generation, TVXQ, Super Junior — refined and accelerated the formula: genre-bending music, impeccable styling, flawless choreography, and an extremely organised relationship with fan communities.

On 19 November 2017, BTS performed at the American Music Awards — their first US television performance. They had already broken multiple social media records. They went on to cover Rolling Stone, record a remix of Old Town Road with Lil Nas X, and in 2020 become the first Korean act to top the Billboard Hot 100, with Dynamite. BLACKPINK followed. Then Stray Kids, TWICE, Seventeen, NewJeans. Each group built on the infrastructure — the training system, the fan engagement model, the visual identity — that the previous generation had established. By the early 2020s, K-pop was not a niche genre. It was one of the biggest pop phenomena on earth.

When Music Became Food

The cultural momentum of K-pop creates a secondary effect that is less discussed but commercially more significant for retail: it drives demand for Korean food. Fans who become invested in Korean artists become curious about Korean culture more broadly. K-dramas extend this — a television drama set in Seoul, watched by a British teenager, is a two-hour advertisement for Korean food, Korean interiors, Korean fashion. The Korean government tracks this through its annual Korean Wave research, and K-food consistently ranks among the most widely covered parts of Hallyu, the Korean wave, around the world.

The mechanism is the screen. When Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020 and the world noticed the Ram-Don scene — two different instant noodles combined with premium hanwoo beef — Korean instant noodles appeared on food trend lists across the UK and US press within weeks. When Squid Game aired in 2021 and a plot sequence centred on dalgona candy, British and American viewers searched for the honeycomb toffee and how to make it. Neither production was designed as food marketing. Both functioned as food marketing anyway.

The Fire Noodle Challenge and a British YouTuber

Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen launched in April 2012. The product originated when Kim Jung-soo, a Samyang sales executive, ate at a spicy chicken restaurant in 2010 and watched customers sweating and fanning their tongues while eating — experiencing what she described as simultaneous pleasure and pain. She told the food scientists to make it spicier. The resulting noodle measured around 4,400 Scoville heat units — roughly the level of a jalapeño, though anyone who has cooked and eaten them will tell you the concentrated sauce in a drained bowl of noodles does not behave like a jalapeño.

In 2014, a British YouTuber named Josh Carrott — one half of the Korean Englishman channel, a British man who spoke Korean fluently — filmed himself challenging his British friends to finish a portion of Buldak noodles without drinking anything. The video went viral in Korea first, for an obvious reason: a British man speaking fluent Korean eating fire noodles with his British friends is inherently compelling to a Korean audience. The challenge spread globally and became one of YouTube's most copied food challenges.

The commercial effect on Samyang was large. Buldak turned a domestic noodle maker into a global export business, and Samyang's sales have multiplied several times over since the challenge went viral, with Buldak making up most of its overseas sales. Jimin of BTS has spoken publicly about eating Buldak, which did the brand no harm with fans.

KPop Demon Hunters: The Film That Changed Everything Again

Released on Netflix on June 20, 2025, KPop Demon Hunters is an animated musical fantasy following a K-pop girl group called HUNTR/X — Rumi, Mira and Zoey — who lead double lives as demon hunters. It was produced by Sony Pictures Animation, co-directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, and featured the voices of Arden Cho, Ken Jeong and Daniel Dae Kim alongside members of the real K-pop group TWICE performing original songs.

The film became the most-watched film in Netflix history. Its song 'Golden' became a number one hit around the world, won the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media in February 2026, and then won Best Original Song at the 2026 Oscars — the first K-pop song to win an Academy Award. KPop Demon Hunters also won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Food runs all through the film — bowls of ramyeon, kimbap and Korean street food feature throughout. Netflix partnered with Nongshim on official K-snack merchandise, and General Mills released limited-edition Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch themed on HUNTR/X and the Saja Boys. The Band of the Scots Guards even played 'Golden' at Buckingham Palace.

The High Street Shops

The physical retail consequence of Hallyu is visible on UK high streets in a way it was not ten years ago. A network of specialist K-pop shops has opened across England — not curiosity shops or import specialists in the back of a market, but proper retail destinations with cafes, photocard trading events, K-pop dance classes and community programmes.

In Manchester, K Stars runs a store and cafe space. In Nottingham, House of PKL describes itself as the UK's largest dedicated K-pop, K-beauty and Korean store. In Liverpool, the Tiny Kpop Shop operates from Red Brick Market in the Baltic Triangle. In Birmingham, HMV Vault runs a dedicated K-pop section. In London, shops including SOKOLLAB and K-Playground near Piccadilly Circus serve a fan community that treats them as social destinations as much as retail outlets — places to browse new album releases, trade photocards, attend fan events and be around other people who share the same interests.

These shops do not only sell albums and lightsticks. They sell Korean snacks and drinks alongside the merchandise, because Korean food and K-pop fandom are not separate interests for this consumer group. They are the same cultural commitment expressed through different purchases. A fan who buys a BLACKPINK album in a K-pop shop and buys a pack of Buldak noodles at the counter on the way out is doing the same thing both times: participating in Korean culture.

The Photocard Economy

The photocard is one of the more unusual commercial innovations to emerge from K-pop culture. Korean music labels began including randomly assigned photocards — small, trading-card-sized photographs of individual group members — with album purchases in the 1990s and 2000s. The randomness was deliberate: fans who wanted a complete set needed to buy multiple copies of the same album, or trade with other fans to complete their collection. Photocard trading events became social gatherings. Rare photocards acquired real secondary market value. The format moved from albums into merchandise, into event tickets, and into food products.

The K-Pop Stars Lollipop and Photocard in the Sweet and Glory range is a confectionery product that directly inhabits this culture. A lollipop packaged with a K-pop photocard is not a novelty aimed at uninitiated consumers. It is a product designed for a fan community that already understands what photocards are, already collects them, and is always looking for new ways to get them. For a K-pop shop buying its confectionery wholesale, it is an exact fit.

The Range at Sweet and Glory

The Korean range at Sweet and Glory covers the core of the K-wave food phenomenon. The Buldak range includes Samyang Hot Chicken in Original, 2x Spicy, Carbonara, Creamy Carbonara, Cheese and Habanero Lime, across cups, big bowls and 5-packs — Carbonara is the flavour UK customers search for most. Sweet 16 Korean Ade drinks cover eight fruit flavours — Korean Pear, Blueberry, Watermelon, Green Grape, Blue Lemon, Pomegranate, Passion Mango and Peach — the lighter, widely accessible face of Korean drinks culture. Lucky Charms K-Pop brings the fandom to the cereal aisle, and the K-Pop Stars Lollipop and Photocard sits exactly at the intersection of confectionery and fandom.

For the wider Asian imports picture, see the Japanese candy wholesale guide. Browse the full soft drinks range or the candy range.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why did the Fire Noodle Challenge take off? Because of who filmed it. In 2014 a British YouTuber, Josh Carrott of the Korean Englishman channel, challenged his British friends to finish a portion of Buldak without drinking anything. It went viral in Korea first, for the obvious reason that a British man speaking fluent Korean eating fire noodles is inherently compelling to a Korean audience, and spread globally from there, with thousands of people filming their own attempts.

How spicy are Buldak noodles really? The original measures around 4,400 Scoville heat units, which is roughly jalapeno level on paper. In practice the concentrated sauce in a drained bowl of noodles does not behave like a jalapeno, because the heat arrives undiluted rather than dispersed through a whole dish. That gap between the number and the experience is most of why the challenge format works.

What are K-pop photocards and why do fans buy multiples? Small trading-card photographs of individual group members, included with album purchases and assigned at random. The randomness is the design: a fan wanting a complete set has to buy several copies of the same album or trade with other fans, which turned collecting into a social activity. Rare cards now carry real secondary market value, and the format has spread from albums into merchandise and food products.

Why does K-pop drive Korean food sales? Because the exposure happens on screen rather than in advertising. A K-drama set in Seoul is effectively a two-hour showcase of Korean food to whoever is watching. When Parasite won Best Picture the Ram-Don scene put Korean instant noodles on UK and US food trend lists within weeks, and when Squid Game aired a plot sequence sent viewers searching for dalgona candy. Neither was designed as food marketing and both worked as it.

What Buldak flavours are there? The original Hot Chicken is the classic, with 2x Spicy for those who want more heat. Carbonara is the most searched flavour in the UK — creamy and cheesy, which takes some of the edge off the heat — alongside Creamy Carbonara, Cheese and Habanero Lime. Most come in cups, big bowls and 5-packs.

Where can I buy Korean snacks wholesale in the UK? Sweet and Glory supplies Korean snacks and drinks wholesale from Manchester with no minimum order — the Buldak noodle range, Sweet 16 Korean Ade drinks, and the K-Pop Stars Lollipop and Photocard.

Related guides: Hi-Chew complete UK guide · What is Ramune? Japan's marble soda · Japanese candy wholesale UK · Swicy: the sweet and spicy trend · TikTok candy trends guide

Sources

Wikipedia, The Kim Sisters; BTS; Samyang Foods (Buldak): en.wikipedia.org
Korean Englishman, Fire Noodle Challenge (YouTube, 2014): youtube.com/@koreanenglishman
Netflix Tudum, KPop Demon Hunters becomes the most popular Netflix film ever: netflix.com/tudum
Netflix Tudum, KPop Demon Hunters wins 2026 Grammy for Golden: netflix.com/tudum/articles/kpop-demon-hunters-grammys-2026
Variety, KPop Demon Hunters wins Oscar for Best Animated Movie (March 2026): variety.com
Deadline, KPop Demon Hunters wins Best Original Song Oscar for Golden (March 2026): deadline.com

Written by Sharon Wilson, Sweet and Glory. Sweet and Glory has imported American and world confectionery into the UK from Trafford Park, Manchester, since 2015.