Food giants posts rising revenue from instant noodles

Acecook Vietnam, a unit of Japan-headquartered Acecook, saw its revenue surpassing VND10 trillion ($427.30 million) in 2019 and climb to VND12.2 trillion last year, claiming the top spot in Vietnam’s instant noodle industry.

Even though the brand “Hao Hao” remains one of its most popular products, Acecook Vietnam has launched dozens of new brands to attract consumers amid rising competition from follow-ups.

Masan Consumer, a unit of Masan Group, does not reveal specific figures about instant noodles, but said that last year it had five brands with revenue of over VND2 trillion each, with two of them instant noodles.

The company also claims to have taken the top spot in the high-end instant noodle segment.

Asia Foods, established in 1990, posted a marginal decline in revenue to VND5.52 trillion last year.

Unlike other competitors, the company focuses on one brand “Gau Do”, a preferred product in the rural area, according to a survey by Kantar Worldpanel.

Another major instant noodles producer is Uniben, which was established in 1992 with the main markets being Russa and Europe. It started pushing sales to domestic market in 2005 with the brand “3 Mien”.

Uniben saw revenue rising over 12 percent last year to VND3.4 trillion.

Vietnamese consumed 8.56 billion instant noodle servings last year, the third highest globally behind China and Indonesia, according to World Instant Noodles Association.

An average Vietnamese eats 87 servings a year, the highest rate globally.