Wan Thai Foods Industry Co, the producer of Yum Yum instant noodles, is ramping up its Yum Yum premium instant noodles which saw strong demand last year.
According to Yuji Mizuta, the company's president, the company will put more focus on expanding its premium instant noodle brand. Demand for the Sood-Ded flavour of premium instant noodles grew by 24% in 2022.
Higher consumption among office workers, an uptick in outdoor activity and a wide range of flavours helped drive the growth of the premium instant noodle market.
To achieve this, the company revamped the image of its Yum Yum Sood-Ded flavour with new packaging and a new flavour. The new recipe includes features such as an elastic soft noodle texture, a concentrated taste of seasoning powder and oil, and the introduction of a new flavour called Truffle Crab Crème Sauce.
The new packaging and flavours are expected to help increase sales of Yum Yum's premium instant noodles by 22% in 2023.
The firm has also invested 70 million baht in marketing activities to promote its products and chose Bowkylion to be the new presenter for Yum Yum Sood-Ded in a bid to attract young generation customers.
Bowkylion was chosen to be the new Yum Yum Sood-Ded presenter because she represents a new generation of talented singers, songwriters, producers, and fashion icons. She excels at demonstrating identity and confidence, and inspiring the next generation.
"We believe that Bowkylion will raise awareness and create new opportunities for Yum Yum noodles," said Chinanun Boonsiriya, marketing manager (domestic & oversea business).
Thailand's instant noodle market was estimated to be worth around 20 billion baht in 2022, up 14% from a year before, with the yellow instant noodle market contributing 94% and the remaining 6% accounting for other categories.
The high growth demand for instant noodles is primarily due to the increase in the prices of all kinds of instant noodles from 6 baht to 7 baht per packet in August 2022.
According to Mr Mizuta, this year's market will be dominated by premium and cup products in line with health trends, and Yum Yum aims to increase its sales by 14% over the previous year.
The company also intends this year to expand its products overseas, including the European Union and China, and increase its investment in more efficient production lines to make significant investments in the medium term over the next 2-3 years.