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.