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Founder Momofuku Ando:
Father of an Industry
Innovative Pioneer
The instant noodle market was launched in Japan by
the 1958 invention of Chicken Ramen by Momofuku
Ando, the founder of Nissin Foods. In 1971, he successfully
brought to market Cup Noodle, the world’s
first cup-type instant noodle product. It was a completely
new food product that could be eaten anytime,
anywhere just by adding boiling water. This innovation
inspired a new market, now a worldwide industry with
demand hovering at 85.7 billion servings in 2005, and
revolutionized eating habits around the globe.
Criteria and Principles Behind
Product Development
Mr. Ando’s concept for Chicken Ramen was underpinned
by five basic criteria—good taste, food safety, convenience,
reasonable price and long-term storage—and this
concept still forms the basis of product development at
Nissin Foods today.
He also put forward three principles, loosely translated
as ”Peace will come to the world when the people have
enough to eat,” “Eating smart will enhance beauty and
health” and “The creation of food will serve society.” These
principles, reinforced by an innovative spirit, laid the foundation
for the business activities and product development
that Nissin Foods currently pursues.
Pursuing a Vision for the Industry
To promote instant noodle industry development, Mr.
Ando founded the Japan Convenience Food Industry
Association (JCFIA) in 1964 and set guidelines for fair
competition and product quality, including early establishment
of Japan Agricultural Standard qualifications and
introduction of production dates on packaging.
Seeking a forum for enhancing the quality of instant
noodles, the JCFIA formed the International Ramen
Manufacturers’ Association (IRMA) in 1997 with Mr. Ando
as chairman and participation from leading instant noodle
manufacturers in Japan and from around the world.
Currently, IRMA comprises major instant noodle makers and
one industry organization representing nine countries.
IRMA hosted the fifth World Ramen Summit in April 2006
in Seoul where the primary topics of discussion were CODEX
standards concerning food safety and quality control.
Space Ram
Mr. Momofuku Ando,
showing Space Ram
In July 2005, Nissin Foods marked a world first with its
Space Ram (space ramen), which was jointly developed
with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to
meet NASA’s strict quality and safety standards. Space
Ram is unique, and not only because it was adopted for
Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi’s voyage in the space
shuttle Discovery. For example, the dry noodles reconstitute
with water heated to 70°C (rather than 100°C), since that is
what is available on the space shuttle. In addition, the
soup’s viscosity was increased to better keep the soup and
20 ANNUAL REPORT 2006