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BUSINESS REPORT

PHOTO: VIET TUAN

Kajiwara Junichi, General Director of Acecook
Taste of Vietnam, told VET that Covid-19 saw the
benefits of instant noodles come to the fore,
including convenience, ease of preservation,
and nutrition. “Instant noodles fed a lot of
things to come consumers of different ages over the last
year, with sales booming,” he added. “They
are a reliable staple when natural disasters
or disease strike.”
Already high, Covid-19 drove up sales of instant noodles Masan Consumer’s instant noodles sales
around Vietnam and the competition can only heat up further. saw a strong breakthrough in 2020, with
revenue growth of over 36 per cent, of which
T KHANH NGOC REPORTS the mainstream segment more than doubled
compared to 2019 on the back of the success
of Kokomi 90. “Covid-19 presented oppor-
tunities for the Omachi and Kokomi brands,
which are very much focused on creating
he instant noodles market in Vietnam by increases in volumes, with more people ‘added value’ for consumers,” a representative
is one of the country’s more mature dining at home and even stockpiling during from Masan Consumer said.
T and has posted average growth of a social distancing periods. Covid-19 inadver- Vietnam ranked fifth in the world over the
handy 5-6 per cent over the last few years, tently heated up the competition in the instant last five years in instant noodles consumption,
according to data from Worldpanel, Kantar noodles segment - a familiar convenience with steady growth in output, according to
Vietnam. Mr. Peter Christou, Commercial food for many Vietnamese families. data from the World Instant Noodles Associ-
Director at the consumer knowledge and ation (WINA). According to Kantar Vietnam,
insights specialists, said the shift by consumers Changed by Covid certain factors have driven the stellar growth
towards essentials and basic needs amid Among major players in the segment, of the market amid Covid-19.
Covid-19 resulted in the market recording Acecook saw revenue grow a staggering Consumers reprioritized their shopping
double-digit growth last year, primarily driven 108.3 per cent year-on-year in 2020. Mr. baskets during the pandemic, focusing more

32 | VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES | MARCH 2021