Wei Lih Jah Jan Men (維力炸醬麵), a 38-year-old Taiwanese instant noodle brand, topped RT-Mart International Ltd’s (大潤發) best-selling instant noodle list last year, according to a recent report released by the hypermarket chain operator.
The report shows RT-Mart sold about 2.5 million packs of Wei Lih Jah Jan Men noodles last year, a rise of 25 percent from a year earlier and pushing the brand up one notch from 2015 to put it in first place in last year’s rankings.
The Ramen Rater, a US ramen review Web site, said in a review released in 2015 that Wei Lih Jah Jan Men has “a very nice gauge and chew.”
“The flavor of the noodle is a soybean paste with a very nice kick to it. The broth for sipping has a salty, onion-garlic kind of feel, but a little different. It works so well together,” Ramen Rater added.
RT-Mart said that the production value of Taiwan’s instant noodles ranges between NT$9 billion and NT$9.2 billion (US$287 million and US$293.4 million) per year, and the top 10 instant noodle brands last year largely came from Taiwanese suppliers.
The hypermarket chain said that instant noodles have become one of the favorite late-night snacks for many Taiwanese consumers, adding that some even pack instant noodles into their luggage when they take an overseas trip to reduce homesickness for Taiwanese food.
The RT-Mart report shows Wei Wei A Chicken Noodles (味味A排骨雞麵) in second place, with sales of 2.2 million packs, up 10 percent, but down one notch from a year earlier, as it encountered stiff competition from Wei Lih Jah Jan Men.
Vedan Wei Wei Noodles (味丹味味麵) took third position last year, with 1.82 million packs sold, up 4 percent from a year earlier, ahead of Wei Wang Instant Beef Noodles (味王牛肉麵, 1.8 million packs sold), I Duo Zang Beef Noodles (一度贊紅燒牛肉麵, 1.6 million packs sold), Wei Wei Premium Beef Noodles (味味一品原汁珍味牛肉麵, 1.55 million packs sold), Hua-Tiau Chiew Chicken Noodles (花雕雞麵, 1.3 million packs sold) and Prince Noodles (王子麵, 1.2 million packs sold).
Only two foreign instant noodle brands made the top 10 list, with South Korea’s OTTOGI cheese-flavor ramen coming in ninth (900,000 packs sold), right before Japan’s Nissin Seafood Cup Noodles (800,000 packs sold), RT-Mart said.
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