Instant noodles are one of the foods that is widely consumed by Indonesians, after rice. According to Susenas, monthly average per capita consumption has increased from 2019 until 2022, starting from 3.684 to 4.087 pcs, even decreasing in 2023 (3.795) but it's still considered as higher than in 2020. Moreover, according to the World Instant Noodle Association (WINA) , Indonesian consumption increased every year in 2019 starting from 12.54 billion serving to 14.260 billion serving.
During the Covid 19 pandemic (2019-2023) according to Susenas, some foods which are needed to cook; instant noodles, wheat flour, cassava are higher in consumption. This means Indonesians have increased their cooking activities in their home at that time.
Instant noodles new brands in Indonesia tend to be adjusted to have lower in natrium, high in fiber and some of them without gluten. This trend issue strengthened after covid 19. In the market we can easily find instant noodle variants that are made of non-wheat flour, infused with vegetables inside noodle blocks, no MSG and natural color. Some brands claim their base noodles are baked (not fried), even still made of wheat flour.
We have the assumption that nowadays Indonesians are more educated about healthy lifestyles compared to a few years ago. Moreover there are many influencers in social Media that share knowledge about healthy lifestyle. With much information about that in social media, Indonesians tend to be selective about what they eat. This is the challenge that needs to be answered by instant noodle Companies.
However, many alternative flour can be used to produce noodles. We can find some brands of instant noodles using corn, porang, mocaf (modified cassava flour), sago, and tapioca for their noodle blocks. We believe this trend will continue and there is no issue about ingredient supplies since Indonesia has much land to produce it.
Instant noodle companies are facing a new trend that nowadays consumers are more selective according to their health lifestyle. NP Foods Indonesia continues to develop and innovate what variants seasoning either for noodles made of wheat flour or other alternative flour; cassava, corn, mocaf, tapioca, and rice. NP Foods Indonesia is ready to build your products to a higher level.
References
Direktorat Statistik Kesejahteraan Rakyat. 2023. Pengeluaran untuk konsumsi penduduk Indonesia berdasarkan Hasil Susenas Maret 2023 Volume 27, Nomor/Number 2. Badan Pusat Statistik Indonesia