Mama instant noodles sale drops for the first time in 42 years

[Lite Beer]

Mama instant noodles sale drops for the first time in 42 years

BANGKOK: -- Sale of Mama instant noodles dropped 0.3 percent for the first four months of this year, the first ever record of Saha Pattanapibul Corporation in 42 years, said Mr Wathit Chokewattana, vice president of the company, on Tuesday.

However, he is confident that sale will pick up for the rest of the year and sale of Mama instant noodles is expected to grow by three percent for the whole compared to just 1.2-1.3 percent last year.

The sale contraction for the first four months of the year reflected economic slowdown which has affected the grassroot people who are the main consumer of instant noodles.

Normaly, Mr Wathit said that the growth rate of instant noodles averaged 5-6 percent per annum and Mama still remains the market leader with 53 percent share of the market followed by Wai Wai and Yum Yum.

The total sale of instant noodles of all brands this year was estimated at 15.8 billion baht compared to last year’s 15.4 billion baht.

To promote the marketing of Mama noodles, the company has hired wellknown actress Patcharabha “Aum” Chaichua as product presenter for three types of Mama instant noodles, tom yum kung, tom yum kung nam khon and tom yum mor fai.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/mama-instant-noodles-sale-drops-for-the-first-time-in-42-years

-- Thai PBS 2015-06-09

[baboon]

So, so I suppose this is it. The end. See you on the other side...

[berybert]

Must be taking lessons from TAT. When sales drop tell people they are expected to rise. If they drop again over the next 4 months just add an extra 2% to what you added after the previous drop and all is good in the world.

[Bannum opinions]

"The sale contraction for the first four months of the year reflected economic slowdown which has affected the grassroot people who are the main consumer of instant noodles"

​Not so sure about an economic slowdown being the cause of Mama sale contraction as noted in this quote.

I am hearing rumblings of a boycott swirling about social media.

Apparently the chairman of this company has taken some political stands that have not gone unnoticed by key consumers of this product, described as follows and I quote"....grassroot people who are the main consumer of instant noodles".

[lostoday]

The "let them eat noodles" didn't seem to take I guess? Oh well to heck with the minimum wage anyway.

Edited June 9, 2015 by lostoday

[hugocnx]

Darn, I didn't even know mama was this long in the market. How can an actually non delicious (IMO) product stay that long.

0.3% whatever....all sales are going down right this year and last year. Breaking news again.

Edited June 9, 2015 by hugocnx

[Thunder26]

So mama noodles hit the ceiling. The next step will be the increase in its price by 1 baht, then the profits will go back in to normal even if people buy less of their product.

[Misterwhisper]

My papa noodle has already been dropping for quite a few years.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Misterwhisper

[rakman]

Two ways to take this:

1) The economy is sinking and the next recession is upon us

2) The economy is doing a lot better and people are up scaling their meals.

[wooloomooloo]

My wife and I continue to prop up Mama here in the UK at 65p for a large hot & spicy. Couple of eggs, vegetables and friend minced pork thrown in and microwaved for three minutes for the occasional TV dinner. Lovely.

[choff56]

"The sale contraction for the first four months of the year reflected economic slowdown which has affected the grassroot people who are the main consumer of instant noodles"

​Not so sure about an economic slowdown being the cause of Mama sale contraction as noted in this quote.

I am hearing rumblings of a boycott swirling about social media.

Apparently the chairman of this company has taken some political stands that have not gone unnoticed by key consumers of this product, described as follows and I quote"....grassroot people who are the main consumer of instant noodles".

Thai citizens exercising their right to vote. I sure hope this catches on.

[choff56]

"The sale contraction for the first four months of the year reflected economic slowdown which has affected the grassroot people who are the main consumer of instant noodles"

​Not so sure about an economic slowdown being the cause of Mama sale contraction as noted in this quote.

I am hearing rumblings of a boycott swirling about social media.

Apparently the chairman of this company has taken some political stands that have not gone unnoticed by key consumers of this product, described as follows and I quote"....grassroot people who are the main consumer of instant noodles".

Thai citizens exercising their right to vote. I sure hope this catches on.

[IMA_FARANG]

Perhaps some commentators on this subject have not read the extremely negative testing done on Lead levels on that very brand of noodles by laboratories that showed they were well over the maximum danger level of Lead contamination in those noodles.

I know it was printed in the Bangkok post in English, and I expect it was also in at least some Thai newspapers in Thai.

I suspect that report had a lot to do with the slump in sales of the noodles.

Edited June 9, 2015 by IMA_FARANG

[JLCrab]

Maybe they have read some of the posts by persons on this forum and have started to eat more organic kale.

[MAJIC]

Darn, I didn't even know mama was this long in the market. How can an actually non delicious (IMO) product stay that long.

0.3% whatever....all sales are going down right this year and last year. Breaking news again.

It's consistently cheap!

[Somtamnication]

No worries. The TAT will find some positive spin to this!

[canuckamuck]

I don't think that the decrease in sales can be attributed to an economic downturn. In fact a rise on Mama sales would be a better indicator of an economic downturn. It's a 5 baht meal.

The reality is that there is a lot more competition in the noodle biz these days.

[geriatrickid]

I hope that the reduced sales are a reflection of consumer intelligence. Mama Noodles are a dangerous unhealthy source of saturated fat and sodium.

In fact, a package of Mama Noodles can deliver 1/2 the recommended sodium intake. No vitamins, and no nutritional value in a mama noodle bag. It is the Thai version of eating fast food fried potatoes with their 17 chemical additives. Mama is the Queen of Junk food.

[craigt3365]

And they blame McDonalds for Thais gaining weight. Right. You're better off with a Big Mac! Even less calories.

Luckily, wifey won't even buy these. Only fresh noodles.

[lujanit]

I just wish that the duty on imported Korean noodles didn't make them so expensive. Better product by far.

[Nick167]

And is the cancer rate correspondingly dropping too?

[northernboy]

Well with this clearly Free PR article. I am sure the new promotional team will meet their increased target goals soon.

[mikebell]

My wife and I continue to prop up Mama here in the UK at 65p for a large hot & spicy. Couple of eggs, vegetables and friend minced pork thrown in and microwaved for three minutes for the occasional TV dinner. Lovely.

When my wife & I travel to UK we always have half a case of Mama because she can't find them in England.

[quandow]

[edwinchester]

And they blame McDonalds for Thais gaining weight. Right. You're better off with a Big Mac! Even less calories.

Luckily, wifey won't even buy these. Only fresh noodles.

A Big Mac has 550 calories, a bag of mama 280.

[oneday]

Oh my, mama mia.

[skildpadden]

I seem to recall there is a thing called the "Mama Index" where the sales of noodles is used an economic indicator: if people eat less instant noodles they use their income on better, more expensive foods whereas if sales goes up it means people resort to cheap foods to stretch their income.

Anybody can verify that - or is it an urban legend?

[Katipo]

If the sales of the cheapest food on the market are being affected by an "economic slowdown" then by extension, the rest of the economy must be royally screwed.

One would think in times like this it is foods like mama that people would be reaching for more of as they tighten their purse strings.

[tifino]

the msg content is finally taking it's toll - less zombies still alive to keep buying it

[Chicken George]

Price about to rise then..