BIZ BUZZ: New Monde products on shelves soon?

The instant noodle world has always been plagued with criticism about salt content and health hazards. These are perhaps among the reasons why consumption remained flat worldwide in 2023, data from the World Instant Noodles Association (Wina) show.

Still, industry giants like Monde Nissin Corp., whose superstar products are Lucky Me! instant noodles, are optimistic that they can drive this demand up.

Or so Monde Nissin CEO Henry Soesanto says.

“We’ll try our best to do it,” Soesanto told reporters on the sidelines of the 11th Wina Summit in Taguig City on Tuesday.

That may not be difficult to do as the Philippines defied the global consensus in 2023, with instant noodle demand inching up by 2.33 percent to 4.4 million servings.

The global average, on the other hand, was down by 0.82 percent, according to Wina.

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Apart from the noodle optimism, Soesanto also hinted at the possibility of adding new products to their portfolio, which includes the iconic SkyFlakes crackers.

“We are seeing a lot of new categories in the market,” Soesanto said. “We’ll keep on introducing those.”