Instant noodle consumption in Vietnam drops sharply

In the past two years, the amount of instant noodles consumed in Vietnam has decreased by 400 million packages following the general world trend.

According to the report of the World Instant Noodles Association (WINA), in 2013 Vietnam consumed 5.2 billion packages of noodles, but by 2014 it had decreased to 5 billion packages and by 2015 it was down to 4.8 billion packages. Vietnam is currently the 4th largest country in the world in terms of noodle consumption after China, Indonesia and Japan.

Instant noodle consumption has decreased sharply over the past two years.

According to the Association, the reason why instant noodle consumption in the Vietnamese market has decreased sharply in the past two years is due to the general trend in the world. Consumers do not fully understand the product, so they are still confused. Much information about this product is inaccurate, making customers feel insecure and reducing their use.

Mr. Kajiwara Junichi, General Director of Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said that also affected by the above trend, the consumption of the company's noodles in the Vietnamese market and in the world has decreased in the past 2 years. However, in the first 6 months of this year, the market has shown signs of recovery.

"In the first 6 months of the year, the company sold about 1.3 billion noodle packages to the market, exported 100 million packages, an increase of 9% compared to the same period last year. Of which, rice products such as pho and vermicelli increased by 25%, vermicelli increased by 32% and cup noodles increased by 45%. However, products made from rice, vermicelli and cup noodles account for a relatively small proportion of total revenue. This year, with positive consumption, the company expects to supply the market with 2.9 billion noodle packages with revenue of 9,000 billion VND," said Mr. Kajiwara Junichi.

Acecook's leaders also added that Vietnam is the place with the best production costs, so the company's products in the Vietnamese market are exported to 46 countries around the world. Currently, sales revenue from Vietnam contributes 50% of the company's total revenue. Notably, the profit earned from the Vietnamese market is higher than that of Japan. In the near future, to develop strongly in the Vietnamese market, the company will promote the production of cup noodles containing many vegetables to meet the high-end needs of consumers, and at the same time, increase the number of products made from rice because this is a trend in the future.

Currently, the Vietnamese instant noodle market has dozens of large and small enterprises. However, the majority of the market share belongs to the three leading enterprises: Acecook, Masan Consumer and Asia Foods.

According to VNE