When India’s PM announced nationwide lockdown on 24th March 2020, many of us rushed out to stock “daily essentials”. In case of millennials , it meant stocking up on instant noodles like Maggi, Top Ramen, Yippee, Wai Wai. These have often been our alternatives to a full meal. Remember those times when your hostel mess had tinda or ghiya for dinner?
In my case, I ventured out of the house the next evening and the first thing I laid my hands on in the kirane ki dukan was my favourite – Top Ramen. As I was about to pay the bill, the shop owner asked me, “Madam, you don’t want Maggi? Ek hi packet bacha hai”. This made me remember all those times when my sister pestered me to buy Maggi instead of Top Ramen and I bought the last packet in her fond memory! During these tough times when many sectors are facing slowdown, FMCG remains among the select few that are going steady, with packaged goods including instant noodles being out of stock at most stores.
Ever since I can remember, my favourite snack has been Top Ramen. It’s quite an unusual choice, I’ve been told, by people who swear by Maggi. Maybe the love affair started when I watched those Top Ramen Curry ads of Shahrukh Khan. The long, thin noodles with a smooth texture and tangy spiciness appealed instantly to my palate. In the 90s, Top Ramen’s Masala variant had ‘macho masala’ which was spicier and tastier than any other instant noodles brand.
Top Ramen is a brand of Nissin Foods who were the first ones to invent instant noodles in Japan in the year 1958. Recently with the fresh positioning of ‘super noodles’ which is ‘enriched with vitamins’ and appearance of Saina Nehwal in its advertisements with tagline – ‘Be the champion’, Nissin’s Top Ramen has targeted children as its primary consumers. Top Ramen has also come up with new variants like Fiery Chilli, Atta, Oats, while retaining the classic variants of Curry and Masala. Over the years, the positioning and tag-lines of the brand changed – ‘Smoodles’ changed to saucy flat noodles and in recent times to ‘super noodles’ – but the taste and the texture remains as great as ever!
You can check out Top Ramen’s full product portfolio here