Cup noodle – An epitome of convenience food!
So ubiquitous and omni-present across the globe, Cup noodles is a staple food and you can hardly miss it in your neighbourhood convenience store, wherever you are!
According to the World Instant Noodles Association, India is the fourth-largest instant noodles market and we had eaten 5.4 Billion packets of instant noodles in 2017 in India! We are sure it would have increased a lot during the pandemic.
The taste, ease of usage and the utility value makes instant noodles a ‘top-of-the mind’ convenience food for any Indian!
| Servings in 2017 | 5.4 Bn |
| CAGR (2018-2023) | 5.6% |
| Value in 2017 | INR 93.66 Bn |
Cup Noodles has an indisputable advantage over all convenience foods of getting ready to eat whenever and wherever you need. All you need is a cup of hot water, not a stove or an oven! and this innovative product was not made in a day!
Nissin foods founded the ‘Cup Noodle’ and Momofuku Ando, The Father of Instant Ramen and Founder of Nissin foods dedicated his entire life to thinking about food in new and creative ways. Nissin foods revolutionised the food industry with Instant Noodles and have invented 3 iconic products to build the ‘Instant Noodle’ Industry of the world .
- Chicken Ramen (1958) : In Osaka, Momofuku worked alone for one year while sleeping 4 hrs a night to invent a ramen which works just by adding hot water. The ‘Magic Ramen’ he found is the popular instant noodles we all eat today.
- Cup Noodles (1971) : On a fact finding trip to America, Momofuku observed that supermarket managers break up Chicken Ramen noodles and put in a cup and pour hot water to eat it on the go! It was then that Momofuku realized the potential of a ‘friendly noodle box’ and invented Cup Noodles.
- Space Ramen (2005) : Momofuku’s creative thinking transcended the bounds of earth to contribute to creating food that scientists can eat even in space.
Momofuku imbibed multiple strategies to make Cup noodles, a global product which tells us how strategy and marketing needs to be coupled with an innovative product to make it a grand success.
Multiple innovative branding and financial themes had been used to make the business case – a success :
It was one of the first products in Japan to be sold in vending machines to make it easy and made accessible everywhere (The first machine was installed near the Tokyo offices of the Nihon Keizai financial newspaper in November 1971)
Nissin signed up for fan collaborations and hired American celebrities for its advertisements to make it international
Used cosmopolitan packaging with large english letters and gold bands as in golden dinner plates to make it look luxurious
From perfecting his recipe at his shed in Osaka to being at your next door convenience store, Cup Noodles has come a long way and Momofuku presents his business thinking process to find successful inventions and discoveries through ‘6 creative boxes.’ (Located at CupNoodles Museum, Yokohama)
- Discover something completely new – Seek things that the world has never seen but would be nice to have.
- Find hints in all sorts of places – There are inspirations that spark new ideas all around you just waiting to be found.
- Nurturing an idea – An invention isn’t for just one person; have everyone use it.
- Look at things from every angle – Investigate every perspective.
- Don’t just go with the status quo – Question those things in life considered the usual way of doing things.
- Never give up – Even if you fail the first time and the second time, keep on trying.
Cup Noodles is a story of inspiration – An everyday reminder of what could be achieved with boundless curiosity, creative thinking and sheer commitment.
References:
How Cup Noodles became one of the biggest transpacific business success stories of all time