Instant noodle sales rise in Vietnam

According to Euromonitor, a foreign research firm, Vietnam’s instant noodle market had a value at VND24.3 trillion in 2015, 10% higher than 2014.

The value was expected to grow to VND25.7 trillion in 2016 and VND26.6 trillion in 2017.

There are 50 enterprises engaged in producing instant noodles in Vietnam. 70% of the revenue has come from Acecook, Masan Consumer and Asia Foods, the three largest instant noodles producers.

Acecook Vietnam is the largest domestic producer of instant noodles, accounting for 40% of the market. The company registered a revenue of VND9 trillion in 2014 and VND9.3 trillion in sales in 2015.

The second largest enterprise, Masan Consumer, held 25% of the local market share in 2015. It gained VND5 trillion from packed instant noodle sales.

Meanwhile, the World International Noodle Association (WINA) has reported that consumption of instant noodles in Vietnam reduced over the past two years following a downtrend on the world market. Consumption dropped from 5.2 billion packets in 2013, to 5 billion in 2014, and 4.8 billion in 2015.

Inaccurate information about the product has made customers wary and resulted in reduced sales, the association reported.

However, Kajiwara Junichi, general director of Acecook Vietnam, said consumption of instant noodles had recovered in the first half of this year.

In the first six months of this year, Acecook Vietnam sold 1.3 billion packets and exported 100 million packets, 9% higher than the same period last year, he said. The company expected sales of 2.9 billion packets this year.

Vietnam has the best production costs so the company produces its instant noodles here and exports it to 46 countries and territories, he said. In the future, the company would promote cup noodles due to its high demand.

Vietnam is the fourth largest consumer of instant noodles in the world, after China, Indonesia and Japan, according to the association.