Instant noodles steaming back to life

Fan Xianguo, chairman of Jinmailang Mianpin Co, said, "The consumption of instant noodles will be stable in terms of quantity, but a market worth about 50 billion yuan in China could be triggered due to the improvement in the quality of instant noodles."

Fan attributes the company's growth to its precise awareness of consumers' changing needs.

To dispel consumers' fears that eating instant noodles is unhealthy, it uses special freezing and steaming techniques to make its products taste more like freshly-cooked dishes, and also adds some fried ingredients, including scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and shredded pork with green pepper.

"Moreover, we will diversify our sales channels and offer different products to consumers in different regions," he said. For example, in airline lounges, Jinmailang has offered its non-fried noodles whose taste is closer to those that are freshly cooked to business travelers requiring both convenience and quality.

Fan said, "Jinmailang has also expanded its sales to South Korea, bringing Chinese flavor to overseas markets, which has been extremely popular," adding that the company sells 4,800 units a day of Sichuan-style instant noodles with sesame sauce at its South Korean convenience stores.