It's Official, Frozen Ramen is Heading to the United States!

When we opened our tiny noodle shop in Guelph back in 2017, we had no grand master plan to one day sell ramen in another country. We just wanted to make really good ramen and share the comfort of a bowl with our local community.

That simple idea has taken us further than we ever imagined...

From our first restaurant to grocery stores across Canada, from folding thousands of gyoza by hand to freezing restaurant-quality ramen in a way we weren't entirely sure was possible at the time, we've spent the last nine years learning, growing, failing forward, and continuously asking ourselves one question: How can we share the comfort of a bowl of ramen with more people? 

And now, we're doing just that.

There's Always Room at the Table

At Crafty, we've always believed ramen is about more than what's in the bowl.

It's about the customer who stops by our restaurant every Friday after work. It's about the parents who keep frozen ramen in their freezer for those nights when dinner needs to happen fast. It's about the grocery demo conversations that somehow turn into twenty-minute discussions about Japan, noodles, and so much more.

We believe everyone deserves to feel like they belong. Whether they're a Crafty regular who's been with us since the beginning or someone discovering us for the first time in the freezer aisle.

Expanding into the U.S. isn't only about reaching a bigger market. It's about bringing that experience to more people. 

Staying True to What Matters

Growth can be exciting. It's also a little terrifying.

Behind every new opportunity are approximately one million questions, a lot of spreadsheets, and more than a few moments of wondering whether we're completely out of our minds (business owners everywhere are nodding along 🫠).

One of our core values is Kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement. It's a value that has shaped Crafty from day one.

We didn't get our frozen ramen right on the first try. We've tweaked recipes, redesigned packaging, learned hard lessons, and occasionally found ourselves solving problems we didn't know existed the day before. Growing a business isn't one big breakthrough, it's thousands of small improvements made consistently over time.

Growth has never meant taking shortcuts. Whether we're making ramen for our restaurants or our grocery customers, we're committed to doing things the right way with real ingredients, thoughtfully crafted recipes, and the same care we've had since day one.

We Couldn't Have Done This Alone

Teamwork and collaboration aren't just values hanging on a wall at our office.

Crafty exists because of thousands of people who've been part of our story: our restaurant teams, our production team, our grocery partners, our customers, and everyone in between who's supported us along the way.

This expansion is a testament to all of them.

Every bowl we've made, lessons we've learned, and milestones we've celebrated have been possible because of the people who've believed in us. 

Same Frozen Ramen, New Neighbours, More Comfort.

This expansion is the next chapter in our story and while so much has changed over the last nine years, the reason we started hasn't.

We're still the same company obsessed with making really good ramen. We're still guided by the values that got us here. And we're still asking ourselves the same question we asked back in 2017: How can we share the comfort of a bowl of ramen with more people?

To everyone who's supported us on our journey, thank you, we wouldn't be doing this without you. 💛

Canadian OG's, we're not going anywhere! Our team is still working hard on bringing new flavours to you, so stay tuned! 🇨🇦 👀 

And to our new friends south of the border, welcome! We're so excited to bring our frozen ramen to your freezers and more comfort to your tables. Keep an eye out, we're on our way! 🍜🇺🇸