The invention of instant noodles

The first instant noodles were developed in Japan after World War II.

In 1958, Momofuku Ando, founder and chairman of Nissin Foods, invented the instant noodles.  Walking home one cold night, he saw people shivering around a street stall waiting for noodles, and was inspired to seek a method of flash-drying cooked noodles on palm oil.

The first instant noodle developed is a chicken-flavored instant ramen. It is to provide an easy-to-produce, convenience food option for citizens in postwar Japan, where food was scarce and finances were strained.

The instant noodle could be removed from its plastics wrapping, placed in a bowl, covered with boiling water and eaten three minutes later.

At first, Ando’s ramen was considered a luxury, since it was still more expensive for consumers than fresh Japanese udon noodles.

By the early 1970s instant noodles had made their way to most markets around the world, though the composition, thickness of noodle and flavoring varied across regions.

These instant noodles have become synonymous with convenience foods, and consumers have come to expect a certain consistency in the product, both in flavor and texture.
The invention of instant noodles 

Japan’s the most Influential Invention

Japan’s the most Influential Invention
Ramen is Japanese word for lo mein (Chinese boiled noodles). Momofuku Ando first introduced his instant chicken ramen in 1958 which had flavoring already infused in the noodles. A the time, at a price of 10 cents per packet, the product cost six times the price of a bowl of fresh ramen.

Ando preserved and ultimately succeeded, even though at took nearly half a century for the world to come around. China consumes 17.8 billion packets, while the figures for Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and the USA respectively are: 9.9 billion, 5.35 billion, 3.64 billion and 3 billion.

Ando’s Nissin Food Products has perfected a process to preserve cooked noodles. Fresh ramen is steamed, molded into blocks, dried, cooled and packaged. He improved flavor by packaging powdered soup mix separately from the brick of wavy noodles.

No longer limited to mild variations, ramen now comes in a variety of hot and spicy flavors.

The global noodle king produces more than four billion packs and cups a year and control 40 percents of the Japanese market and 10 percent of the world market. Nissin operates twenty-five plants in eight countries and uses shrimp from India and cabbage form China.

To conquer the world, Nissin has adapted its products to the peculiarities of foreign market. Shorter noodles are offered to accommodate forks rather than chopsticks.

The latest news said that Nissin spend 300 million dollars on entering Russian markets. He planned to buy around a one third in Russia’s LLC Mareven Food Central, which control 41 percent of Russia’s instant noodle market.
Japan’s the most Influential Invention