Noodle Key Takeaways from January Retailer Trends

Asia: Competitive Instant Noodle Market

In the instant noodle category, Asia, especially South Korea and Japan, was the strongest market with the most significant shelf space, flavor, and product variety. Instant noodles are considered a staple in the Asian market and are subjected to government pressure for price adjustment. Tridge’s findings corroborate this, with the average price per 100g of instant noodle products from South Korea and Japan being the lowest among the eight countries observed by Trige in January.

Figure 1. Average Price per 100g in Instant Noodle Category

Source: Tridge

The average price of Chinese instant noodles was higher than in South Korea and Japan because of the high price level of the premium boutique store Olé, and warehouse-type retail store Freshippo X. The two major instant noodle brands in the French instant noodle shelf, Nissin’s Cup Noodle and Ajinomoto’s ‘Oyakata,’ is imported from Japan which affects to be higher price than other countries in Europe.

The strong presence of domestic companies also characterizes South Korea and Japan. They actively release new products to thrive in the fiercely competitive market.

In Korea, Harim released two types of rice ramen, ‘Spicy Chicken Broth Rice Ramen’ and ‘Clear Chicken Broth Rice Ramen,’ which are made from powdered rice and wheat flour. Powdered rice is a new rice variety from Korea that was developed by the National Institute of Crop Science in 2019. Powdered rice differs from traditional, regular rice because its growing period is 20 to 30 days shorter and takes less processing time and cost.

Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs launched a new project in April 2023 to actively support developing and launching new powdered rice products. The main goal is to raise food self-sufficiency and alleviate the decreasing rice demand. Although the proportion of powdered rice in these products is a mere 11.5% to 15%, rice ramen is slowly gaining popularity among people looking for gluten-free products.

Spicy Chicken Broth Rice Ramen (Left) & Clear Chicken Broth Rice Ramen (Right)

Source: Harim

China also had a large shelf in the instant noodle section, but each retail store exhibited a distinct feature depending on the target consumers.

Olé, an upscale supermarket brand mainly located in luxury shopping centers in high-income areas, mostly sells small-sized, premium, imported instant noodle products by major brands renowned for their high brand power. On the other hand, Freshippo-X, a warehouse-type retail store, has bulk-sized offerings prominently featuring domestic brands in terms of brand and flavor variety.

Regarding the flavor, the products displayed include prevalent instant noodles in China, such as Luosifen (snail rice noodles) and Beef Chao Fun (beef rice noodles). These products have meat ingredients and are more nutritious than traditional instant noodles. It reflects the growing number of health-conscious consumers in China who are looking for non-fried, wet-processed instant noodles.

Europe: Prevalence of Whole Wheat Pasta Noodles

Europe is renowned as the birthplace of pasta and for its frequent consumption of pasta noodles in daily meals. Thus, entire aisles are dedicated to various pasta products, varying in size and shape. The price of pasta noodles in Europe was lower than in Asia and the US. One reason behind the low price level is the prevalence of private labels in the pasta noodle category in Europe, thus driving the average price down. On the other hand, PB products do not have a significant presence in the Asian pasta noodle market.

Figure 2. Average Price per 100g in Pasta Noodle Category

Source: Tridge

Whole wheat pasta comprised many of the European retail store shelves among various products. As well as other whole-grain products, whole wheat pasta is known for its nutritional value due to its abundance of protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, and zinc.

Unlike Asian countries, which have barely any whole wheat pasta products, a wide array of whole wheat pasta noodles are available from numerous national brands and private labels in Europe. Whole wheat pasta products are easy to distinguish from traditional pasta because of the different packaging colors and the darker content color.

Whole Wheat Pasta Varieties in Europe: France E. Leclerc (Left) & Italy Carrefour (Right)

Source: Tridge

North America: Prominent Growth in Organic Pasta Noodles

There has been a growing awareness among consumers regarding their dietary habits and food choices, with a preference for chemical-free and natural food items. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), US sales of organic food items are continuously growing.

The organic pasta market is no exception, and many pasta noodle products observed by Tridge on-site checkers in January were organic. The most remarkable example is Trader Joe’s, where 15 out of 20 products on the pasta noodle shelves were organic pasta.

Although there was not a significant number of newly-released products in the noodle market in January, there is a noticeable trend aimed at catering to the growing number of health-conscious consumers.

For further information, please check out Retailer Trend Reports on Tridge website.