OSAKA — Acecook plans to begin making instant noodles in Myanmar in summer 2017.
By switching from imports to local production and offering soups more akin to local tastes, the Japanese company hopes to win a 10% share of Myanmar’s growing market for instant-noodle products by 2020, selling the equivalent of 100 million servings a year
Acecook is investing upwards of 2 billion yen ($18.6 million) to build a factory in a Yangon industrial park. When it fires up the facility, it will become the first Japanese instant noodle manufacturer to operate in Myanmar.
The company originally planned to produce the noodles in Myanmar in collaboration with Japanese trading house Marubeni and others. But Acecook decided to go it alone so it could make business decisions more quickly, a company official said.
Myanmar’s growing middle class has begun slurping more instant noodles. With incomes rising, the market is seen expanding from 420 million servings last year to more than 1 billion in 2020.
Acecook has been importing instant noodles to Myanmar from its subsidiary in Vietnam since 2014. By switching to local production, it can reduce costs and better compete with the many Thai instant-noodle makers, who sell products in Myanmar priced around just 150-180 kyat (12-15 cents) apiece.
While the Thai versions are mostly based on tom yum soup, Acebook released a new offering this February that has a flavor like the “hin” simmered dishes of Myanmar. That product is priced at around 250 kyat.
Source: Nikkei Asian Review
