Indonesia is the Second Largest Instant Noodles Consumers

TheIndonesia.id - Social restrictions during the pandemic drive people to stock meals, especially instant foods. Instant noodle is one of them.

Based on Indonesia Eximbank Institute (IEB), an Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI), from the World Instant Noodle Association, global instant noodle consumption reached 116.56 billion. Indonesia was ranked second, with 12.6 billion servings or 10.84% of world consumption in 2020.

The rising consumption of instant noodles was also confirmed by a survey conducted by the Trailer Park Group Variety (TPG)/ Variety Intelligence Platform Covid Impact Study.

People of productive age in the US watched more TV, movies, and other digital media during the pandemic. It inevitably boosts food consumption. Instant noodle is one of the easiest food to be consumed at home.

The Head of IEB of LPEI, Rini Satriani, said that Indonesian noodles are consumed not only domestically but also globally.

"In 2020, Indonesia's total instant noodle exports reached USD 271.34 million, an increase of 22.96% year-on-year from 2019 (USD 220.7 million). The latest data showed that the cumulative export from January to September 2021 was USD 185.04 million," Rini Satriani explained in a statement on Thursday, December 9, 2021.

Indonesia's instant noodle exports in 2020 were mostly aimed at Malaysia (31.40%), followed by Australia (9.84%), Singapore (4.70%), the United States (4.51%), and Timor Leste (4.25%).

Indonesia's exports to the five countries in 2020 grew positively and on an increasing trend over the last five years (2016-2020).

Based on the observation of instant noodle export data for 2020-2021, Rini Satriani explained that several countries were recorded to increase demand for instant noodles. They are Timor Leste (USD 9.78 million), Cambodia (USD 7.75 million), Taiwan (USD 6.42 million), Vietnam (USD 3.29 million), and Madagascar (USD 1.98 million).

"The noodles were exported into the non-traditional market. It gives us a sign that the market opportunities in the future are increasingly open not only for instant noodles but also other food products," she explained.

Based on Trade Map data, Indonesia was the fourth-largest world exporter of pasta products in 2020, after China (17.55%), South Korea (16.75%), and Thailand (8.71%).

Indonesia's most prominent export of pasta products in 2020 was instant noodles (88.49%). Then, it was followed by other types of pasta (11.12%), vermicelli (0.27%), and rice noodles (0.11%).

"We can conclude that Indonesian instant noodles and other pasta have their own taste compared to others," concluded Rini Satriani.