While some quickly-microwaved instant noodles have served as breakfast for generations of college students, that is largely not how the product that originated in Japan in the 1950s has been marketed.
Nissin Foods (NFPDF) , which owns the famous Cup Noodles brand, comes in flavors such as chicken, beef, hot and spicy shrimp as well as "spicy lime" and "spicy chile" chicken.
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In the U.S., Cup Noodles is a popular brand given its low price of under $2 per package — Fortune Business Insights recently reported an "unprecedented and staggering" demand for instant noodles following the covid-19 outbreak and amid inflation.
Maple Syrup, Sausage, Pancake And Egg Noodles, Oh My!
At a time when the instant noodle market is also projected to grow at a CAGR rate of 5.95% from $54.60 billion in 2022 to $81.84 billion in 2029, Nissin Foods is expanding its reach with an unusual new product: breakfast noodles.
Cup Noodles Breakfast is described as the same instant noodles with the "breakfast flavors" of pancakes, maple syrup, sausage and eggs. As part of an exclusive partnership with Walmart (WMT,) the limited-edition flavor will be available on the retail giant's shelves as of March 29.
"Saucy, soup-based, spicy, sweet or savory, we even added rice to some, so by adding Cup Noodles Breakfast to our line-up we are truly feeding cravings around the clock - morning, noon, night or late night," Nissin Foods' SVP Of Marketing Priscila Stanton said in a statement.
The breakfast noodles are prepared in the same way as the regular ones — by filling the top of the package with water and microwaving for four minutes. The suggested retail price of each package is $1.18.
Cup Noodles has been experimenting with unusual flavors and products since 2021 with the launch of its "limited-edition portfolio" — over the last two years, it has launched things like Pumpkin Spice Noodles, olive-flavored noodles and even a make-up line in which an eyeshadow palette was inspired by the colors one sees on one's noodles package.
Breakfast Is Another Key Category For The Industry
Breakfast is another key area in which both snack food producers and fast-food brands have been trying to make strides. Even as restaurant visits fell amid the rising cost of food in 2022, breakfast sales remain strong for people looking to pick up something on the go.
Fast-food breakfast items like the Egg McMuffin often come with a cult following while, for many people, it retains a more affordable way to go out for a treat.
"For a lot of people, it's simply a cup of coffee and maybe a specialty coffee that they’re paying a premium price for but it's sort of more manageable," David Portalatin, a food and beverage analyst with NPD, told CNBC in the summer of 2022.
It is precisely that "treat" factor that many associate with foods like pancakes and maple syrup that Nissin Foods hopes to tap into with its latest noodle flavor. Walmart, in its turn, has also been leaning on unusual flavors and exclusive partnerships to drive people to its stores — this spring, it has been selling a ranch-flavored ice cream developed with New York City's Van Leeuwen following the viral success of a mac-and-cheese ice cream flavor in 2022.
