Four new concentrated paste bases built around ramen, pho, and birria are hitting retail shelves under the Better Than Bouillon® brand, as parent company Summit Hill Foods deepens its push into globally inspired culinary formats. The Chicken Ramen Base, Tonkotsu Ramen Base, Pho Base, and Birria Base are now available at Walmart, Albertsons, and additional retailers nationwide, with selection varying by location.
What's in the Line
Each product in the new Culinary Collection line is formulated as a concentrated paste designed to replicate broths and bases that traditionally require hours of preparation. The Chicken Ramen and Tonkotsu Ramen bases are positioned as the first concentrated ramen broth starter pastes in the market, built with real chicken or pork, shoyu sauce, and no added MSG. The Pho Base uses real beef stock, ginger, soy sauce, and aromatics to replicate the layered flavor of a six-to-twelve-hour simmer. The Birria Base draws on real beef stock, chili peppers, onion, paprika, garlic, and spices to deliver the slow-cooked consommé profile associated with the Jalisco-origin dish.
Beyond the obvious bowl applications, Summit Hill is marketing the bases as multipurpose flavor boosters — the ramen pastes for stir-fries and shoyu-centric recipes, the pho base for braised beef and rice dishes, and the birria base for tacos, quesabirria, soups, and eggs.
Operator and Retail Implications
For foodservice buyers and retail category managers, the launch signals continued commercial momentum behind globally inspired broth formats. Ramen and birria in particular have moved well beyond trend status into menu staples across fast-casual and full-service segments, and the demand for at-home versions of restaurant-quality global dishes continues to shape retail food and beverage innovation. Concentrated paste formats offer meaningful advantages over liquid broths — longer shelf life, smaller footprint, and greater flavor flexibility — factors that also make them attractive for operators looking at back-of-house flavor solutions.
"Our new Culinary Collection of global flavors bases deliver the restaurant-quality taste of ramen, pho, and birria with the trusted quality of Better Than Bouillon, making it easy to prepare authentic, flavorful meals in minutes instead of hours," said Kyle Peterson, Chief Marketing Officer at Summit Hill Foods.
Summit Hill Foods, which also supplies flavor solutions to foodservice distributors, manufacturers, and restaurants under brands including The Original Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce™ and Better Than Gravy®, is positioning the new bases at the intersection of consumer convenience and professional-grade flavor output — a space where retail and foodservice crossover products have seen consistent category growth.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
