Summit Hill Foods has extended its Better Than Bouillon Culinary Collection with four concentrated paste bases targeting trending global cuisines — Chicken Ramen, Tonkotsu Ramen, Pho, and Birria — now shipping to retail accounts including Walmart and Albertsons nationwide.
The launch positions Summit Hill Foods squarely in the fast-growing global-flavor segment, where demand for restaurant-quality taste with minimal preparation has accelerated across both retail and foodservice channels. As a company that also serves manufacturers, foodservice distributors, and co-manufacturers as an ingredient and flavor solutions partner, the Culinary Collection expansion has downstream implications beyond the consumer shelf.
Formulation & Functionality
All four bases are formulated as concentrated pastes, a format that delivers higher flavor yield per gram than conventional liquid broths and allows operators and home cooks alike to dial in intensity. The Chicken Ramen and Tonkotsu Ramen bases are built around real chicken and pork stock respectively, incorporating authentic shoyu sauce and umami-forward profiles with no MSG added — a clean-label claim that carries weight across retail planograms and foodservice specifications alike. The Pho Base combines real beef stock with ginger, soy sauce, and traditional aromatics, replicating a broth profile that would ordinarily require six to twelve hours of simmering. The Birria Base draws on beef stock, chili peppers, paprika, onion, and garlic to deliver the rich consommé character associated with the Jalisco-origin dish now ubiquitous across foodservice menus.
The paste format offers practical supply-chain advantages: higher bulk density relative to liquid broths reduces freight cost per flavor unit, and the concentrated nature of the product typically extends shelf life versus ready-to-use stocks. Buyers evaluating these bases for commercial kitchen or light-manufacturing applications should request the technical data sheet (TDS) and certificate of analysis (COA) from Summit Hill's ingredient sales channel for precise moisture content, usage levels, and allergen statements, particularly given soy and wheat components in the shoyu-based variants.
Market & Channel Context
The timing tracks with sustained menu momentum for ramen, pho, and birria across full-service and fast-casual foodservice. Birria tacos and quesabirria have become fixture LTO items at regional and national chains, while ramen and pho continue to outperform broader soup-category growth at retail. For ingredient buyers and product developers, the availability of a commercial-grade concentrated base in a recognizable branded format can accelerate speed-to-market for prepared meal kits, soup starters, and frozen entrée applications — segments where flavor innovation is a primary differentiation lever.
Summit Hill's dual role as a branded consumer goods company and a B2B ingredient and flavor solutions supplier gives the new SKUs a plausible pathway into contract manufacturing and private-label conversations. Operators or manufacturers exploring the bases for foodservice or culinary-broth applications should engage Summit Hill's ingredient division directly through SHFoods.com to discuss minimum order quantities (MOQ), bulk packaging formats, and specification sheets appropriate for commercial use.
Kyle Peterson, Chief Marketing Officer at Summit Hill Foods, framed the launch around the convergence of global-cuisine curiosity and convenience demand: the new bases are engineered to compress hours of traditional prep into minutes without sacrificing the layered flavor profiles that define each cuisine.
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.
