Focus On China Instant Noodles Market, Urges Mintel

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- Mintel Group Ltd, a leading global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence, says Malaysia should focus on the instant noodles market in China following the higher consumer demand there for instant noodles. Its Director of Research for Asia Pacific, Matthew Crabbe, said research by Mintel on instant noodles sales in China shows that outside local flavours, Korean flavoured noodles are bought by 11 per cent of Chinese noodles consumers, and six per cent like Japanese flavours. "But other Asian flavours rank very low, despite 59 per cent of urban Chinese consumers saying they are willing to try new instant noodles products and flavours," he told reporters at a media briefing here Thursday on opportunities for Malaysian businesses in China. He said instant noodles sales have been stagnating despite China's rapid economic growth, and although reigniting consumer interest has begun, more can be done to deliver the features consumers want. Crabbe said while China's retail economy has enjoyed average annual growth of 13 per cent since 2006, the instant noodles market has only achieved an average of four per cent, and instant noodles have lost the share of consumer spending to faster, more innovative sectors like savoury snacks and ready meals. "Instant noodles will continue to lose their share of consumers' pockets unless they can become better quality, higher value and healthier. "We have seen the beginnings of such innovation coming from the leading brands in the market already, and there is still a great deal of scope for more innovation in this way," he said. He said more interesting flavour combinations, more regional flavours and interesting condiments are also attracting consumers back to eating instant noodles. But different consumer groups want instant noodles for different reasons, and there is a great opportunity to develop more product segmentation in order to make optimal use of those different needs, especially focusing on healthier lifestyles, he said. He said there are leading Malaysian food products brands in China such as Ayam Brand, but there are many food markets where Malaysian brands are not significant, such as instant noodles. "Malaysia has strong food quality regulations and this can play well as a competitive advantage for Malaysian food brands in developing a market in China. "Malaysian foods also have the advantage of being exotic, which should attract the growing number of middle-class Chinese looking for a greater variety of products as well as better quality," he added. -- BERNAMA