Instant noodles maker is tasting success with two new exciting flavours

Meeting demand: The production line at the Indofood (M) Food Industries Sdn Bhd plant in Ipoh.

POPULAR dry instant noodles maker Indomie is foraging in the soup noodles segment with robust success.

It has introduced two new flavours — the Indomie Soto and Indomie Chicken Curry — to capture the tastebuds of Malaysians, 75% of whom prefer soup instant noodles.

Indofood (M) Food Industries Sdn Bhd general manager Cheong Hwa Seng said the Indomie Soto was made available last November while the Indomie Chicken Curry, a customised flavour for Malaysia, was launched more recently in March.

“It took us three years to come up with the right flavour for our Indomie Chicken Curry.

“We knew from the beginning that we wanted curry but the question was what type of curry.

“After three years of experimenting, conducting surveys, checking and rechecking for market acceptance, we finally came up with this,” Cheong revealed.

Likewise, the Indomie Soto, which is a very unique Indonesian flavour, had been customised to suit local tastebuds, he said.

“Because Malaysians like stronger flavours, we have created ours with a lot more herbs, making it more aromatic than the ones available in Indonesia,” he added.

According to Cheong, acceptance of the Indomie Chicken Curry was encouraging.

“It is out of stock at the moment as demand is higher than production,” he said.

He added that the flavour would be extended to Brunei this month and subsequently to Singapore.

Cheong said the Indomie Soto had outdone similar flavours offered by competitor brands in taste tests, adding that it was also flying off supermarket shelves.

“We have been selling 20,000 cartons of Indomie Soto every month, exceeding our initial target of 15,000 cartons monthly.

“We hope figures will double by next year.

“Malaysians are an adventurous lot in trying new products but they are still very loyal to their regular brands,” he said.

While it is attempting to break into the soup segment market, Indomie is not about to give up its hold on the goreng segment of which it has been a key contender for the past 53 years.

“At one time, Indomie held a 95% market share in the goreng segment, which makes up 20% of the entire sales of instant noodles in Malaysia.

“To get back to where we were, four more flavours have been introduced here in addition to our Indomie Special and Indomie Asli.

“They are the Indomie Cabe, a unique green chilli flavour from Indonesia; Indomie Rendang; Indomie Extra Pedas, which was launched in April; and our number one flavour in Brunei, the Indomie Goreng,” Cheong said.

“We are planning an aggressive comeback with a stronger sales team.

“Our aim is to get back to the top spot within the next five years,” he said.