Vietnamese consume over 1,000 tons of instant noodle daily

In 2021, Vietnam consumed about 411,500 tons of instant noodles, up 9% against 2020.

Total instant noodle sales in the country surpassed VND3.8 trillion (over $153.2 million) in 2021, increasing more than 11% against 2020 and nearly 18% against 2016.

The research for Euromonitor’s annually-published global instant noodle consumption report is carried out in 80 countries.

Previously, data from the World Instant Noodles Association (WINA) also showed that Vietnam surpassed South Korea as the world’s highest per capita consumer of instant noodles. On average, every Vietnamese uses 87 packets a year.

Euromonitor pointed out that Acecook from Japan and Masan from Vietnam are the Vietnamese instant noodle market’s two leading firms, holding a combined market share of 33%.

Japanese instant noodle market share in Vietnam decreased from nearly 24% in 2017 to over 19% in 2021, while that of Vietnamese enterprises rose from roughly 12% to nearly 14%.

Regarding individual noodle brands, Acecook’s Hao Hao has remained the most popular in Vietnam for years. However, its market share continues to shrink and stood at around 7.7% last year.

Acecook has been instant noodle’s top earner in Vietnam for years. It first hit the revenue threshold of VND10 trillion in 2019, and its revenues increased by 15% two years later, surpassing VND12.2 trillion in 2021.

However, its growth has slowed compared to the rate of 20% in the 2017-2019 period, mainly due to stronger competition from Masan, Vietnamese firm Asia Foods and other instant noodle makers.

Masan’s 2021 annual report said it represented five brands with revenues of over VND2 trillion each, of which two are instant noodles.

Asia Foods made total revenues of VND5 trillion a year in the 2017-2021 period. Uniben gained revenues of more than VND3.4 trillion in 2021, up over 12% against 2020.

Euromonitor’s report shows that total instant noodle productions continue to increase each year, but the proportion of instant noodles consumed vs other foods such as rice, fresh noodles and vermicelli is decreasing. It dropped to more than 26% last year from more than one- third.

Vietnamese people are eating more rice. Rice, which used to account for nearly two-thirds of the total output, surged to 72% last year.