26 March 2013/14 Jumada l-Ula 1434/06 Farvardin 1391/15 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711

“An increasing number of customers are seeking hot spicy food, although our overall numbers have gone down, so we have consistently been developing new dishes for Sichuan House to meet the demand.”-Shin Seo-ho, chief operating officer of Sun At Food

A South Korean food company operating in China claims their spicy food sales have heated up as the economy has cooled down. China’s economy is still doing better GDP wise, compared to the United States, but has been slowing down.

Sun At Food claims sales of spicy dishes at its restaurants in China has increased three to six fold since the end of last year.

Another South Korean food maker, Nongshim, reported increased spicy shrimp snack sales.  They’ve also introduced a new spicy noodle to meet increasing demand.

And another company, Ottogi, has been adding spices to its ramen lineup.

There might be economic and medical reasons for the demand for spicy food.  The food companies say Capsaicin, from hot red peppers, is cheap, and many customers claim spicy food helps relieves the pain and stress of everyday life.