ramen

With the way we all ate ramen during college, you’d think that instant ramen was an instant hit at the markets. The fact is, when it was first introduced in Japan, it was considered a luxury item(imagine that) considering that it costs six times more than homemade noodles in Japanese grocery stores.

It wasn’t until Nissin brought it to the shores of the U.S. in 1973 with their convenient styrofoam cup, that the instant noodles sky rocketed in popularity. Nissin Foods now brings in over 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion U.S.) a year with their original “Top Ramen” noodles. Add all the competing ramen clones made in Japan, Korea, Europe, the U.S., China, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia and you have an estimated annual world market of $10 billion U.S.

Pretty good for a product with a wholesale price of less than 10 cents a pack. So what’s your favorite ramen?