Number of the Day
The Instant Ramen Boom Is Now Worth Tens of Billions of Dollars
And it’s only picked up steam during the pandemic
$44.1 billion: That’s the size of the global instant noodles market, according to a report by Fortune Business Insights, a market research firm, which projects that number to grow to more than $77 billion in the next six years. At $2.3 billion, North America accounts for a small but steadily growing share of all that instant noodle buying.
The report, based on data from 2019, doesn’t account for the surge in demand that instant ramen saw during the pandemic. Nissin, the Japanese maker of the Cup Noodle brand, saw double-digit sales growth in the first five months of 2020. Other Asian instant noodle brands also saw large sales spikes as people looked for easy ways to feed themselves without leaving the house. South Korea exported 28% more instant noodles in 2020 than in the previous year.
While eating vast quantities of the carb-and-sodium explosion that characterizes most ramen probably isn’t the healthiest means of sustenance during the pandemic, a number of new entrants are trying to break into the category with healthier alternatives, like House Foods’ tofu shirataki noodles and startup Immi’s low-carb ramen.
A $44 billion instant noodle market puts “ramen profitable” in a whole new light.
For more Number of the Day, follow Marker Editors.
