Instant noodles go global

I. Christianto, Contributor, Jakarta

People who frequently travel abroad often have the same remedy to cope with their finicky food habits or even homesickness when staying in foreign countries: bring along your favorite food.

Some are fond of bringing several packs of locally made instant noodles, which have become one of most popular foods today, not only for children but also adults.

"I actually do not eat instant noodles so often ... but I usually bring instant noodles when I travel abroad," said Lisa, a career woman who usually makes intercontinental trips at least three times a year.

For Lisa, carrying packs of instant noodles is quite helpful especially when she feels hungry in the middle of the night or even when feeling homesick.

The meatball or chicken curry flavor in the instant noodles is one of the best "medicines" for her if she misses home when abroad.

Instant noodles are getting more and more popular around the world including Indonesia. Some Indonesian products can also be found in supermarkets in various nations.

Due to practicality, taste and low price, instant noodles have become one of most popular prepared food products particularly among young people and children.

Noodles, in general, are a popular food, both in the big cities and villages. This is due to the simple preparation and taste. Noodles can be cooked in various ways, from the very simple fast-cooking methods of the street vendors to a meal at an expensive restaurant.

In addition to instant noodles, there are several other types of noodles such as fresh or raw noodles, wet noodles and dried noodles. Instant noodles are mostly produced by modern factories with sophisticated machinery for steaming, frying and drying.

The main ingredients for noodles are wheat or rice flour, water, palm oil and salt. Some products are mixed with other materials such as egg and tapioca.

Instant noodles, which are cooked simply by pouring boiling water on fried-and-dried noodles and adding to the soup powdered flavoring, were created 44 years ago by Japan's Nissin Foods. It was Japanese entrepreneur Momofuku Ando who developed instant noodles. Nissin reportedly intends to patent a form of instant noodles that can be made and consumed in space, in order to reduce homesickness for Japanese astronauts.

Dubbed the master of instant noodles, Ando succeeded developing instant ramen or noodles after ten years of trials. Ramen is the common name for Japanese soup noodles.

Ando succeeded in producing the world's first instant noodles in 1958 after several attempts to develop a cheap food in postwar Japan.

From Japan, instant noodles then spread to other Asian nations and crossed the continent. Instant noodlemakers from Japan, Malaysia, Brazil, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Thailand have set up an association called the International Ramen Manufacturers Association (IRMA) which has held a summit biennially since 1997 to exchange ideas on marketing, quality control and technical innovation.

As stated by Ando in the first summit of the association, most people would agree that noodles truly mirrored the food culture of the world. He cited five benefits of instant ramen noodles: good taste, safety, convenience, low price and excellent shelf life.

With noodles already ubiquitous in Asia IRMA hopes to conquer the world with the cheap and quick-to-prepare snack food.

The association said that total world demand for noodles had grown making it a global industry with 43 billion servings (packs) in 1997, and estimates it would exceed 100 billion by 2010.

According to the Tokyo-based IRMA, China consumes the most noodles with 16 billion packs annually, followed by Indonesia with 8.6 billion packs, Japan 5.3 billion packs, South Korea 3.9 billion packs and the United States 2.5 billion packs. Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines have a total consumption of 43.4 billion packs yearly.

Japan, with 5.3 billion packs per annum, is the leader on a per capita basis, with each person consuming an average of 42.2 packs a year.

Indonesia with a population of 210 million people is a big market for food producers. To take the advantage of the big market, instant noodle producers have created various types of products in the form of inexpensive, tasty meals that suit all tastes.

The manufacturers are competing to create a myriad of flavors like seafood, vegetable, satay, curry and other tastes.

For example, PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, the leading food producer in Indonesia, has created a wide range of flavored instant noodles from ethnic Indonesian dishes to exotic curries including chicken, shrimp, special chicken curry, and garlic chicken.

The company, which produces a wide range of instant noodle products with prices covering the low-end, mid-range and high-end retail market segments in Indonesia, has several brands including Indomie, Sarimi and Supermi. Indofood also has other products in cups and smaller packages at reasonable prices.

It also makes other items such as flour, food seasoning, snack food, biscuits and other articles, but the publicly listed food giant enjoys increasing net sales every year mostly from instant noodles (36 percent in 2000 and 35 percent in 2001).

There are rumors, however, that consuming instant noodles especially those packaged in styrofoam might cause health problems such as a wax buildup in the stomach.

However, based on various research findings by independent international institutions and laboratories, the noodle-makers claim that the styrofoam used in food packaging is safe for all types of food.

The other issue is about monosodium glutamate or MSG, which many people prefer to avoid. Others also avoid instant noodles as they think consuming noodles will make them gain weight, or that the noodles contain genetically-modified ingredients.

Another challenge for processed foods in Indonesia and other nations is the issue of halal certification. In Indonesia, most food products must obtain a halal certificate (for food permitted to be consumed by Muslims) from the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI).

Nonetheless, noodle-makers said their products comply with the food code. They also believe noodles can be of benefit to people everywhere as the food has reasonable nutritional value.

As proof, Ando, who was born in 1910 and still plays golf, once points at himself, "Why I can still play is simple: deep breathing exercises and every day I eat ramen," said Ando in an IRMA summit.

Well, bon appetite!