World devours oodles of noodles for convenient delicious meals

World devours oodles of noodles for convenient delicious meals

Instant noodles span the culinary globe, bridging language and cultural differences to bring inexpensive, convenient, delicious and nutritious meals to billions of people.

According to Thomas Darmawan, chairman of the Indonesian Food and Beverage Association, the total world demand for instant noodles reached 42.95 billion servings in 1997, and this number is expected to rise to 100 billion by 2010. Instant noodles are consumed in over 80 countries.

What is it about instant noodles which creates such a huge demand in countries as disparate as China, Indonesia, the United States and Mexico?

The obvious answer is convenience, price and taste. One thing uniting people around the world is a shortage of free time to spend in the kitchen cooking elaborate meals.

As more and more families see both parents leaving the home to work, and as people find themselves spending more of their time in traffic jams or in front of the computer or some other 20th century timesaving device which eats up our remaining few minutes of precious leisure time, the idea of spending more than 15 minutes preparing a meal seems an impossible task which would surely suck the remaining bit of humanity out of our harried souls.

With instant noodles, all you need is 15 minutes for a meal that will fill your stomach and give you the energy you need to face your life.

Which explains why the United States, eating 2.48 billion servings in 1997, is the world's number five consumer of instant noodles.

Everybody knows that Americans run around like there is no tomorrow making as much money as possible, running themselves into the ground as they chase after the all mighty dollar.

As Americans' leisure time has dwindled to a few precious minutes a day, instant noodles are probably preventing millions of workaholics falling dead from hunger.

The low price of instant noodles also goes a long way toward explaining their worldwide popularity. This is especially true in countries suffering through a worldwide economic downturn which has wreaked havoc on the incomes and buying power of billions of people.

Indonesia, for example, has been hit particularly hard by the economic crisis, so it is not surprising that it is the world's number two consumer of instant noodles. Billions of people suffering through this difficult time of privation are able to feed themselves and their families filling meals which do not empty their wallets. For when times are tough and money short, economy prevails and millions of families turn to inexpensive foods such as instant noodles for their meals.

And in Indonesia, economy meets convenience in food stalls which dish out inexpensive bowls of instant noodles to their customers. While eating outside of the house usually means prohibitively high prices for those who are forced to watch every rupiah, food stalls selling instant noodles cater to people who want good food at a price they can afford.

While there are certainly no added luxuries such as linen tablecloths or house bands to entertain you while you eat, dining on instant noodles in a food stall means that you are free from having to spend any of your time in the kitchen, while you are still able to enjoy the savings afforded by inexpensive instant noodles.

However, no matter how convenient or inexpensive instant noodles are, they would not be able to attract billions of consumers if their taste did not measure up. Anyone who has ever eaten instant noodles knows they are delicious.

Instant noodles offer a wide range of flavors. From chicken, beef, shrimp, tomato and vegetable, instant noodles cater to all preferences. Add the seasonings and spices, and instant noodles provide a meal which will taste fresh and exciting no matter how many times a day you eat them.

You may think this is merely the ill-informed opinion of an immature and naive palate which would not know a real noodle if it slapped one upside one's taste buds.

You might even believe that this is the reason why 90 million servings of instant noodles were enjoyed in Mexico in 1997. You might ask, how would Mexicans know quality noodles, being for the most part unfamiliar with Asian cuisine? Could it be that Mexicans just do not know any better when it comes to noodles?

Surely this is not the case. The number one consumer of instant noodles in the world is China, eating 16 billion servings in 1997. The Chinese know quality noodles when they taste them, considering that noodles are a Chinese invention.

So, the fact that so many instant noodles are enjoyed in China is a sure indication that instant noodles are not a mere convenience, in terms of time and the pocketbook, but a delicious meal that can satisfy the most discerning noodle connoisseur.

Around the world, instant noodles satisfy the appetites of billions of money-conscious and harassed people who just want to enjoy a good hearty meal without all the frills which simply add to a meal's cost and preparation time. Billions of people sitting down to steaming bowls of delicious noodles can testify to the worldwide power of the instant noodle.