Instant noodle prices rise

HÀ NỘI — Manufacturers have raised the prices of a series of food items due to pressure from the skyrocketing cost of gasoline and input materials.

Rice, sugar, fish sauce, cooking oil, and instant noodle manufacturers have all announced increased prices.

The price of instant noodles has increased by  二 五 per cent over the same period last year while other items such as cooking oil rose by  二 三 per cent, sugar  六 七 per cent, fish sauce  二 八 per cent, and gasoline  四 八 per cent.

Kajiwara Junichi, general director of Acecook Việt Nam JSC, said that the company had to increase the price of all products from March  一 due to the high price of input materials and transport costs, adding that no matter how hard businesses tried, they could not keep prices down.

A survey of the World Instant Noodles Association (WINA) showed that Vietnamese people consumed more than  七 billion packages of instant noodles in  二0 二0, just behind China and Indonesia.

The COVID- 一 九 pandemic spurred the need to hoard and consume instant noodles. WINA estimated that the world’s demand for instant noodles grew by  一 四. 七 九 per cent in  二0 二0.

In Việt Nam, their price rose by  二 九 per cent, nine times higher than average growth in   二0 一 五- 二0 一 九.

The Vietnamese instant noodle market currently has  五0 domestic and foreign enterprises, but is dominated by three main players: Acecook, Masan Consumer and Asia Food.

Market share

Entering the Vietnamese market in  一 九 九 五, Acecook, which makes Hảo Hảo noodles, has become a national brand focusing on the mid-end segment. At its peak, Acecook had nearly  五0 per cent market share.

However, in recent years, Acecook’s market share has fallen to  三 五 per cent.

The giant’s instant noodle sales reached VNĐ 一 一. 五 三 trillion in  二0 二0, a year-on-year growth of  八. 二 九 per cent, accounting for  三 二 per cent of total market revenue.

The gross profit margin was  三 三. 六 per cent in  二0 二0. Acecook has a relatively high gross profit margin compared to other enterprises in the same industry.

Last year, Acecook Việt Nam was warned about preservatives in the product in the European market, causing it to struggle.

Consumers and many retailers are sceptical about Acecook’s products even though it has coordinated with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to check product quality.

Masan ranks second in the industry. In the last two years, Masan’s sales growth rate of instant noodles has always been at the top of the market, averaging  三 三. 一 九 per cent per year, nine times higher than the whole Vietnamese noodle market.

Masan owns the Winmart retail chain, which integrated with Masan Consumer to lead the instant noodle market with two famous brands, Omachi and Kokomi. The pandemic saw an increase in consumption of instant noodles from  二0 二0, making Masan’s revenue rise sharply.

The revenue of Masan Consumer’s instant noodles segment reached VNĐ 八. 八 trillion last year, up  二 七. 八 per cent compared to  二0 二0, an increase of  四 三. 七 一 per cent compared to before the pandemic.

Although Asia Food is not as aggressive in advertising as Acecook or Masan, it is no less competitive.

The company focuses on the rural market, which accounts for  六 五 per cent of Việt Nam’s population and has a large consumption of instant noodles.

Asia Food with Red Bear noodles has crept up to conquer the market, and its revenue always surpassed Masan in  二0 一 六- 二0 一 九. However, after the pandemic, Masan sped up its sales and left Asia Food behind.

Asia Food’s revenue reached VNĐ  五. 七 trillion in  二0 二0, up  九 per cent compared to  二0 一 九, thanks to the high demand during the pandemic.

Asia Food also focuses on exports, and the company said that it currently holds more than  五0 per cent of the market share of instant noodles in Cambodia with the Red Bear brand. However, unlike Việt Nam, Cambodia’s instant noodle market is not so large. — VNS