Intro

Instant noodles, or instant ramen, is a type of food consisting of noodles sold in a precooked and
dried block with flavoring powder and/or seasoning oil. The dried noodle block was originally created
by flash frying cooked noodles, and this is still the main method used in Asian countries; air-dried
noodle blocks are favored in Western countries. Dried noodle blocks are designed to be cooked or
soaked in boiling water before eating. Ramen, a Japanese adaptation of Chinese noodle soup, is
sometimes used as a descriptor for instant noodle flavors by some Japanese manufacturers. It has
become synonymous in the United States for all instant noodle products

History

Instant ramen was first invented in 1958 by Japanese-Taiwanese businessman and

Noodle God, Momofuku Ando. But let's rewind a bit.

After World War 2 (post 1945), Japan was having difficulties feeding its population. Rice
shortages around this time didn't help either. As such, the Americans donated a lot of
wheat flour to Japan. This wheat flour wasn't used for bread production though. It was
used for ramen noodles sold in food carts!

Amidst this ramen noodles backdrop, Ando was working on perfecting them in "instant"
form. After endless experimenting, he got it right in 1958. The world's first instant ramen,
a "chicken ramen", was born. This "packet" style brand is still sold to this day.
Competitors

1 chings
In 1995, Mr. Ajay Gupta launched Capital Foods. Using his marketing experience, he scouted the
food market to explore profitable niches and homed in on Ching’s Secret, a brand that would offer
Chinese food ingredients. He followed this up with Smith & Jones, a brand that would offer
international foods and food ingredients.[4]
Ching’s Secret debuted the staple trilogy of Chinese sauces - Soy Sauce, Red Chilli Sauce, Green
Chilli Sauce. This was followed up with an offering of noodles, dubbed as Hakka Noodles in India. In
August, 2015, the company established the category of Desi Chinese, an Indo-Chinese fusion
cuisine

2 Knors

Knorr is a food brand with a wide range of soups, stock cubes, bouillons,,seasonings and sauces.
The brand dates back to 1838 when Carl Heinrich Knorr,opened a factory and began
experimenting with food drying techniques that could,preserve quality, flavor and freshness. It is
one of the world‘s largest food brands sold in more than 87 countries,around the world. Knorr
products owe their tastes and flavors to the culinary skills of its chefs. Knorr embodies a truly
global cuisine, which began when the globetrotting sons of its founder Carl Heinrich Knorr
started importing new ideas from overseas.
3Wai wai

Wai Wai (Nepali: वाइ वाइ, Thai: ไวไว, pronounced [wāj wāj]) is a brand of instant noodles produced

by Nepal Chaudhary Group under Thai Preserved Food Factory, Co., Ltd. (TPFF) in Thailand [1][2] The
brand has been produced in Thailand since 1972 by Thai Preserved Food Factory Co., LtdIn Nepal,
the Chaudhary Group built a Wai Wai noodle factory in Kathmandu in 1984 in technical collaboration
with TPFF. Its initial capacity was 120 packets per minute. Today, it is 2,100 packets per minute or
40,000 tonnes per year.

4 Nissin noodles

Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. is a Japanese food company that specializes in the production and
sale of convenience food and instant noodles .Founding and early years. The company was
established in Japan on September 1, 1948, by Taiwanese immigrant Go Pek-Hok (1910–
2007), Japanese name Momofuku Ando (the creator of instant ramen in 1958) as Chuko Sosha
(Nissin Food Products Co.) Instant ramen noodles are made with wheat flour, water, salt, and
kansui, an alkaline water that adds elasticity to the noodles. First, the ingredients are kneaded
together to make a dough. Next, this dough is rolled out and cut into thin noodles.

Importance of labelling:

Packaging and labelling directly impact sales and profits as they offer detailed information on the
price, quality, quantity, usage, ingredients, and features of the products. They also display the
brand logo and message that help the customer find the product easily by creating a recall value.
Notably, packaging and labelling play a vital role in the overall marketing strategy of the
business.

Furthermore, the label and packaging enhance the product's overall appeal too. They give all the
relevant information about the product that is crucial for the customers to know, in order to make
an informed buying decision. Notably, selling unlabelled products proposes strict actions.

My product before covid was focusing on taste only but after covid self services outlets came into
existence and packaging and labelling is been changed to more attractvie.

Segmentation

Cup/bowl Type Segment to grow with the highest CAGR during 2019-30
Global Instant Noodles Market is segmented by product into Cup/Bowl and Packet.The greater
market share in 2019 was accounted for by Packetsegment as it has become an essential part
of life among consumers. Packet instant noodles are the leading segment, which is growing at a
substantial CAGR to reach USD 27,120 million by the end of 2030. The availability of instant
package noodles with different pack sizes and the benefit of their purchase according to the
usage primarily drives the growth of this segment. The demand for cup/bowl instant noodles has
also increased recently as it has many add-on flavors.The cup/bowl segment is expected to
witness the fastest CAGR of 3.37% during the forecast period owing to its convenience and
benefits of on-the-consumption.

Targeting

Chao chao instant noodle product has a target market for all ages except
toddler.
Since cooking is a thing that people often lazy to do, especially when they are
quite busy with their university life or at their job, people consume Chao chao
as a simple way to eat because cooking it only took about 3 to 5 minutes, this
makes Chao chao as a ‘saving time food”. In addition, the taste of chao chao
noodles matches the taste of this generation, who love pasta and fast foods.
Thus people eat instant noodle as a convenient choice to save up time, in
addition to saving money.
The primary target audience of chao chao noodles:
• Young adults ages 16 – 25, because of their school and university life, if
their Mom works students have a good choice to eat noodles as a dinner. As
well as a lunch since young adults spent most of the night hours on social
media, and sometimes on studying this make them feel hungry at midnight.

The secondary target audience:

• Working mothers ages 30 – 45 because mothers may have no time to
prepare dinner and a lunch on daily bases, so noodles considered a good
choice to be found at home, that satisfy the hunger of their children.

Positioning
In a very pioneering move Nestle created instant noodles category in mid 1980s when they
launched Maggi brand. Being the first mover the brand become category representative. To
many people instant noodle is Maggi. It has become generic to the product category.
Positioning is an important aspect of marketing strategy. Market segmentation is first step in
strategy development. It is impossible for one marketing package to make sense to
everybody. By dividing customer on the basis of their similarities, it becomes easier for a
firm to decide where to direct its marketing efforts. This allows better allocation of finite
marketing resources by maximizing efficiency and effectiveness.

Nestle also had a lot of options. The noodles market can be divided into different groups
depending upon the choice of segmentation variable. For instance, there is domestic and
professional segment for noodles. The market could be divided on the basis of age of
consumer, r consumption quantity, geographic location and culinary treatment. Market
segmentation is a matter of perception. There are people who look at the market the way
everyone sees, whereas a limited few are able to uncover new customer groups who have
not been uncovered by generally followed basis of segmentation. Nestle chose to target the
children segment. Children frequently demand something to eat. Back then the market of
snacks was not evolved. Therefore whenever mothers were pestered they were forced to
provide home cooked snacks or light food like parantha, pulav, pakora, sandwich and vada

Pricing stratergy
Skimming pricing: Price skimming, also known as skim pricing, is a pricing
strategy in which a firm charges a high initial price and then gradually
lowers the price to attract more price-sensitive customers. The pricing
strategy is usually used by a first mover who faces little to no competition.
Price skimming is not a viable long-term pricing strategy, as competitors
eventually launch rival products and put pricing pressure on the first
company. Price skimming is used to maximize profits when a new product
or service is deployed. Therefore, the pricing strategy is largely effective
with a breakthrough product, where the firm is the first to enter the
marketplace. In such a strategy, the goal is to generate the maximum
profit in the shortest time possible, rather than to generate maximum
sales. This enables a firm to quickly recover its sunk costs before
increased competition and pricing pressure arise.

2 diffrential pricing
An effective price tracking strategy offers a wide range of benefits to your business,
strengthening your company’s position, streamline your product offering, and
maximizing profits. Differential pricing is an integral component of dynamic pricing,
allowing you to adjust prices based on different market conditions and circumstances.
Differential pricing is a sophisticated method that benefits almost all businesses if used
correctly. It enables you to reach a wider audience, increase your sales, and generate
more revenue. It is crucial to develop a differential pricing strategy carefully. Otherwise,
you may end up generating less revenue.

Although differential pricing is a part of dynamic pricing, they are different. Differential
pricing refers to a product’s price base on customer characteristics, buying behavior,
and purchasing patterns. On the other hand, dynamic pricing is pricing set by a
company based on the current market conditions and related factors.

Channel of distribution

Two level channel

A most commonly used channel of distribution that involves two intermediaries
for the sale of products is known as Two Level Channel. The intermediaries
involved are wholesalers and retailers. The producer sells their products to
wholesalers in bulk quantity, who sells them to small retailers, who ultimately
supply the products to the customers. This channel is generally used to sell
convenient goods like soaps, milk, milk products, soft drinks, etc. For
example, Hindustan Unilever Limited sells its goods like detergent, tea leaves,
etc., through wholesalers and retailers.  
Three level channel
Three level channel means that there are three intermediaries involved between
the manufacturer and the customer for the sale of products. The three
intermediaries involved are Agent Distribution, Wholesalers, and Retailers. It
is usually used when the goods are distributed across the country and for that
different distributors are appointed for different areas. For
example, wholesalers purchase goods from different distributors, like North
India Distributors and then pass the goods to the retailers, who ultimately sell
the goods to customers. 

Promotion
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service.
Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from
consumers. It is typically used to promote a specific good or service, but there are wide range of
uses, the most common being the commercial advertisement. Commercial advertisements often
seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through "branding", which
associates a product name or image with certain qualities in the minds of consumers. On the other
hand, ads that intend to elicit an immediate sale are known as direct-response advertising.

Sales promotion

A sales promotion is a marketing strategy in which a business uses a temporary

campaign or offer to increase interest or demand in its product or service.

There are many reasons why a business may choose to use a sales promotion (or
‘promo’), but the primary reason is to boost sales. Sales boosts may be needed to reach
a quota as a deadline approaches, or to raise awareness of a new product.
No matter how successful a business is, every company is going to find moments where they
need a sales boost. It might be towards the beginning to build a customer base, or somewhere
down the line when sales are slow.

PLC Name change krke likhna

Introductory stage in product life cycle of Maggi

Popular in many countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Nestle
wanting to explore the potential for such instant food/noodle brand in India, launched
Maggi in the year 1982. It took several years and lot of money for Nestle to establish its
noodles brand in India.

Source:nestle.in

When Maggi noodles was launched in India it had segmented the based on age and
urban families targeting kids, youth and office goers positioning itself as fast to cook, 2
minute noodles, with the tagline of “taste bhi, Health bhi”. Positioning however was not
an issue, as no instant noodle had been launched in India, Maggi was the first one.

In the initial stages, Maggi had high failure rates, frequent product modifications(to
adjust to Indian consumer), high marketing and product cost as they were trying to build
product awareness. With a lot of ups and downs and high failure rates, Maggi survived
the introductory stage.

Let us now see the next stage in the product life cycle of Maggi, the growth stage.

Growth Stage in Product Life Cycle of Maggi

Around 1985, the demand for Maggi had increased tremendously in India recovering
their developmental costs and increasing the sales rate. Maggi remained the monopoly
in the Indian Market till 1990, after which Top Ramen entered the market reducing the
market share of Maggi a little.

10 years back Maggi had 50% of the market, In order to increase its sales again, Maggi
introduced a new flavour in 1997 which wasn’t well accepted by the consumer, thus in
1999, Nestle re-launched its old flavour of Maggi, getting back on track in terms of
sales.
Over the years, Nestle has also introduced many products under the Maggi brand, like
the ketchups, soup, oats, pasta, more noodle flavours etc.

Source:  Worldkings.org

Let us now see the next stage in the product life cycle of Maggi, the Maturity Stage.

Maturity Stage in Product Life Cycle of Maggi

During it’s maturity stage, Maggi’s sales were at peak, production costs were low and
profits were high. In 2003, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) was all set to take on
Nestle’s Maggi by launching a new category of liquid snacks under it’s food brand Knorr
Annapurna.

Priced aggressively at 5Rs, the new product called Knorr Annapurna Soupy Snax was
made available in 4 varieties. Like Maggi, it had a similar target market and positioned it
in a similar manner.

Also, Maggi faced tough competition from Top Ramen. That led to decline in sales,
signifying that Maggi had entered the maturity stage.
Maggi reaching the peak and seeing the sales rate declining launched a series of new
products. While keeping price aggressive at 5 Rs and made the distribution channel
more intensive to encourage their product over the competitor.

Let us now see the last stage in the product life cycle of Maggi, the Decline Stage.

Decline Stage in Product Life Cycle of Maggi

There were certain hiccups in the way- like the banning of Maggi. Due to high lead
content almost led us to believe that our favourite noodle brand is now off the shelf. And
may be reached its last phase, i.e., the decline stage.

Read the entire story of how Maggi escaped its death here!

But Nestle invested more in the research of Maggi and took corrective actions. For
example, Internal employee engagement, increased campaign, more activities on social
media, and revived back from the near disaster.

Talking about the current scenario, After the world was hit by the Corona Virus
Pandemic In the year 2019, Maggi sales shot up by 25% as consumers stayed home
and stockpiled instant noodles.
With increase in total and domestic sales by 8.1% and 8.5%, respectively, Maggi’s
revenue in the year 2020 and 2021 is continuing to increase. Maggi therefore escaped
its death and climbed back from the decline stage and recovered well.
These were the most important stages in the product life cycle of Maggi!