Case Study- Instant Noodles

Be it in the past, present or future, food has always and will always be an integral part of society as it is a necessity for survival. Instant noodles are convenient to consume as they ease and greatly shorten the preparation time of cooking noodles. Moreover, it is tasty and hence, popular among many youths. Instant noodles are consumed throughout the world. In terms of market volume, China consumes the most instant noodles, with 44.3 billion packs sold there in 2005. Followed by, Indonesia at 12.4 billion packs and Japan at 5.4 billion packs.

Background

Momofuko Ando (March 5, 1910 – January 5, 2007) was the Taiwanese Japanese founder and chairman of Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd., and the inventor of world's first instant noodles and cup noodles. He is considered a groundbreaker because of his influence in the instant food industry. Ando developed the epoch-making instant noodle product and spread it to all corners of the world.

Mr. Ando said the inspiration for his product came when he saw people lining up to buy bowls of hot ramen noodle soup at a black market stall during the food shortages after World War II. Inspired, he developed his first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, in 1958!

The ingenious idea of providing a waterproof polystyrene container for the noodles that made his Cup Noodle an instant success in 1971!

How did it become popular?

Ramen, now a popular food enjoyed by people around the globe, was first introduced to public by Mr. Momofuku Ando, IRMA Chairman, in 1958.So how did it gain so much popularity?

The history of instant noodles begins in the years World War II: a time of intense food shortages in Japan. Inexpensive and full of needed calories, ramen became widely popular and long lines of hungry diners outside noodle shops and street food stands were a common sight.

Obviously, what was needed was a tasty, safe and quick type of ramen that could easily be cooked at home. This is why Instant Ramen is widely-welcomed by many, till today.

Other Roles

Delicious and simple to prepare, instant ramen is now an essential a part of our daily eating habits. However, this useful food plays a much wider role in the world. The rapid cooking time, convenience of transporting and storage of instant ramen, makes it an ideal food material for international disaster relief and aid work. As instant ramen is easy to cook and also a dried food, it is extremely useful for feeding the victims of natural disasters. Therefore, instant ramen will continue to play a vital role in relief work around the world.

Instant ramen are donated to disaster-stricken, war-torn or drought areas as emergency food relief. The International Ramen Manufacturers Association (IRMA) is one association, which distributes food rations to the underprivileged. The World Ramen Summit is held by the IRMA biannually, where ramen manufacturers group together to foster the development of the industry by discussing quality improvement and safety, environmental, technical and other issues related to their businesses. (IRMA, 2006)

From (IRMA,2006), as of 2005, approximately 86 billion ramen was consumed meaning that one person enjoyed 13 packs of ramen per year in view of the fact that the total population equals 6.5 billion!

The primary factors of the significant growth of instant ramen sales are due to its’ easy preparation, delicious taste and low cost. This can be supported by the statistics from (IRMA, 2006): The average annual consumption of instant ramen is increasing by more than 13% since 2000, and 100 billion of this food would be expected to be sold in 2009.