<figure id="attachment_408721" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-408721" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="e2f50449"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/fdce32a379be390a012f1ecc66b29706.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-408721" class="wp-caption-text">The cup ramen industry continues to evolve. From reasonably priced to high-end products that cannot be bought with a single coin, there is a wide range of products.</figcaption></figure>
<h2> The keywords are &#8220;collaboration with famous restaurants&#8221; and &#8220;high price range</h2>
<p> The hottest cup ramen in Reiwa 2025 is a luxury product that cannot be bought with a single coin.</p>
<p> About four years ago, a product that shook the cup ramen industry was born. Ichiran, a popular tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen chain with 88 outlets in Japan and abroad, teamed up with Acecook, which has introduced numerous hit products such as &#8220;Wakame Ramen&#8221; to the world, to create &#8220;Ichiran Tonkotsu&#8221; (537 yen).</p>
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<p> At the time, the &#8220;300-yen barrier&#8221; had become a common phrase in the industry. It was an unspoken understanding among the companies that consumers could only spend a maximum of 300 yen for a cup of ramen, and that products over that amount were unlikely to sell.</p>
<p> Ichiran Tonkotsu, however, was priced well above that barrier and contained no ingredients. Despite this, Ichiran Tonkotsu became a huge hit, selling out at various retail outlets. Ichiro Yamato, an instant noodle hunter who operates the instant ramen specialty restaurant Yakantei, looks back on the &#8220;Ichiran shock.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Ichiran&#8217;s success created a new trend in product development. Prior to that, there had been many cup ramen products sold in collaboration with famous restaurants, but they were all manufacturer-driven products. In other words, the manufacturer went to the ramen restaurant and proposed the collaboration to develop the product. In the case of Ichiran Tonkotsu, however, Ichiran took the lead in development, and Acecook was in charge of manufacturing.</span></p>
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<p> Following this new age trend, a new product was introduced in September of last year that had an even greater impact on the industry than &#8220;Ichiran Tonkotsu&#8221;. The product, &#8220;Sumire All Stars,&#8221; was created by Yamadai, a mid-sized manufacturer that sells the &#8220;Sokomen&#8221; series, in collaboration with Nobuyoshi Muranaka, owner of the popular miso ramen restaurant &#8220;Sumire.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Mr. Muranaka was so impressed with the quality of Yamadai&#8217;s cup ramen that he offered to replicate our noodles and soup. This is truly a ramen shop-led product, priced at a whopping 650 yen. But it is definitely worth the price. Sumire All Stars&#8221; is a non-fried thick noodle product, but instead of steaming the noodles before drying them, they are boiled and dried just as they are at the restaurant.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The soup is also excellent, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is almost identical to that of the restaurant. The roasted miso flavor unique to Sumire and the oil used to keep the soup cold are well represented. It also comes with retort chashu pork and menma, making it no longer feel like a cup of ramen but more like a takeout product from a ramen restaurant. Rather, it is inexpensive at 650 yen. It is so popular that even at my own restaurant, it sells out immediately upon arrival.</span></p>
<p> There is no doubt that the keywords for the future of the industry in 2013 will be &#8220;collaboration with famous ramen stores&#8221; and &#8220;high price range,&#8221; as exemplified by &#8220;Ichiran Tonkotsu&#8221; and &#8220;Sumire All Stars. It is difficult for each company to survive by simply continuing to sell its standard products in a haphazard manner.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Nissin, the absolute champion of..."></div>
<h2>Soup is almost the same as at the restaurant.</h2>
<p> The company that understands this best is Nissin Foods HD, the absolute champion with annual sales of 732.9 billion yen.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Cup Noodle&#8221; is indeed the number one series in the industry, but from now on, you can&#8217;t do it with standard products alone. In addition, Nissin Foods may further enhance its lineup with high-priced products priced over 300 yen, such as those made in collaboration with famous restaurants.</span></p>
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<p> In fact, it was Nissin that pioneered the sale of high-priced products in collaboration with famous restaurants and made them firmly established with consumers. In the early 2000s, Nissin released a series of cup ramen products exclusively for Seven &amp; i HD in collaboration with &#8220;SANTOUKA,&#8221; &#8220;Ippudo,&#8221; and &#8220;Sumire,&#8221; which were the most popular ramen restaurants at the time. These products became long sellers, gaining popularity for their authentic flavors, and are still sold today, with improvements, under the product names &#8220;SANTOUKA Asahikawa Tonkotsu Shio,&#8221; &#8220;Ippudo Akamaru Shinmami,&#8221; and &#8220;Sumire Sapporo Konko Miso&#8221; (all 354 yen), respectively. Will the battlefield of collaborative cup noodles also be the sole domain of Nissin, which is ahead of its time?</p>
<p> No. Nissin&#8217;s collaboration products with famous restaurants are being exposed to the onslaught of other companies.</p>
<p> In addition, Toyo Suisan&#8217;s (annual sales of 489 billion yen) &#8220;Iida Shoten Shoyuramen&#8221; (321 yen) continues to make great strides among Seven Premium Gold Cup Ramen products.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Toyo Suisan&#8217;s strength lies in its ability to use a variety of seafood broths (dashi), thanks to its background as a fishery company. In the past, seafood soups used only dried bonito flakes or dried bonito powder, but now they also use sardine broth, mackerel broth, horse mackerel broth, jaw broth, kelp broth, and so on. By blending these ingredients, we are bringing the soup closer to the taste of Iida Shoten&#8217;s soup,&#8221; says Oyama Sokusai, an instant noodle enthusiast who eats 700 servings of ramen a year.</span></p>
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<p> Seven Premium Gold&#8217;s cup ramen is characterized by its many sachets. Opening Nissin&#8217;s &#8220;Ippudo Akamaru Shinmami&#8221; reveals five kinds of soup: powdered soup, liquid soup, chashu pork, spicy miso, and kurokoyu (black koyu), while Toyo Suisan&#8217;s &#8220;Iida Shoten Shoyuramen&#8221; contains four kinds: liquid soup, kayaku (dried herring), nori (seaweed), and special oil.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I have been very impressed with the quality of the soups in today&#8217;s cup noodles,&#8221; said Iida. If the taste of Ippudo can be reproduced, five kinds of sachets are not a hassle. Iida Shoten Shoyuramen&#8221; shows the attention to detail that goes into each aluminum pouch for the flavoring oil. The post-dispensing of the flavoring oil creates the elegant aroma unique to Iida Shoten&#8217;s ramen,&#8221; says Takero Kanda, a researcher of homemade ramen.</span></p>
<p> Sanyo Foods, which boasts the industry&#8217;s third largest annual sales of 180.3 billion yen with its &#8220;Sapporo Ichiban&#8221; brand, the number one bagged ramen, is also offering &#8220;Sapporo Ichiban Meiten no Aji: Tenka Ippin Kyoto Konko Chicken Hakyu&#8221; (356 yen), a collaboration with the popular chain &#8220;Tenka Ippin,&#8221; and &#8220;Sapporo Ichiban Meiten no Aji: Sugita-ke,&#8221; a collaboration with &#8220;Sugitaya,&#8221; a long-standing Iheke ramen shop. Aji Sugita-ke Yokohama Konko Tonkotsu Shoyu (321 yen), a collaboration with the long-established Sugitaya family of Ieke Ramen. The synergy between the brand power of Sapporo Ichiban, the company&#8217;s greatest strength, and the brand power of each famous restaurant has led to a steady increase in sales.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The company&#8217;s biggest strength is the &#8220;Sapporo Ichiban&#8221; brand, and the brand strength of each famous restaurant has steadily increased sales. &#8220;It may be a little time-consuming, but when you eat the cup ramen from the famous restaurant collaboration, instead of pouring hot water over the noodles, boil them in a separate pot and put them back in the cup, so they feel like fresh noodles. If you add soup to it and let it acclimate before eating, you can enjoy ramen noodles with the same quality as at a restaurant. Since the soup in cup ramen is quite strong in flavor, you can boil additional fresh noodles from ramen sold in convenience stores to make doubles. 300 yen-plus collaboration products suddenly taste better with just a little ingenuity,&#8221; Kanda said.</span></p>
<p> The cup ramen industry has entered an era of great collaboration. The absolute supremacy of the Nissin empire, which has reigned for a long time, may be shaken.</p>
<figure id="attachment_408724" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-408724" style="width: 2379px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f3bc1c2f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/5309a3e1d152d3f78db861f1db8ddd68.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-408724" class="wp-caption-text"> Kanna Hashimoto (25) appeared in a commercial for &#8220;Cup Noodles. The &#8220;Bakakkoi Arc,&#8221; which aired in 2003, became her breakthrough. Photo from Nissin&#8217;s official website</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_408725" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-408725" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="513a6f4e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/94486fb8df0471743003981fcfea3682.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-408725" class="wp-caption-text"> The TV commercial for Meisei is a tribute to a commercial aired about 40 years ago, featuring actor Ami Toma (18). Photo from the official website of Meisei</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_408720" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-408720" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f53e4864"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/6c4f2b741e481a054ad2727ab2631829.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-408720" class="wp-caption-text"> The commercial for Ace Cook&#8217;s &#8220;Drink Up One Cup&#8221; series features celebrity and actor Tomio Umezawa (74). (Photo from Ace Cook&#8217;s official website)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_408722" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-408722" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1e10f51e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/baeac226490b5626154ba126f3df70a7.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-408722" class="wp-caption-text"> Toyo Suisan used model Shiori Sato (34) in a commercial for its &#8220;Noodle Making&#8221; series, which was well received. (Photo from Toyo Suisan&#8217;s official website)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_408731" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-408731" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0dbc1afd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/c3b3df2f6d484a6bfb5e8e540e7e9d0c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-408731" class="wp-caption-text"> Cup noodle corner at a Seven-Eleven near the editorial office. Collaborations with famous restaurants are still popular.</figcaption></figure>
<p><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5d568790"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/1d95d04cbcfc0d70841cde99fc96092d.jpg" alt=""></a><br>
From the January 24/31, 2025 issue of &#8220;FRIDAY</p>


 It used to be an unspoken agreement among companies that the maximum amount of money a consumer could spend on a cup ramen was around 300 yen. In Reiwa 2025, the hottest cup ramen products are luxury items that cannot be bought with a single coin! Keyword- is ......

 Is Nissin, the absolute king of the cup ramen industry, holding firm to its dominance?

At last, &#8220;650 yen&#8221; has been released! Cup Ramen Industry Research: The New Battleground is &#8220;High-Priced&#8221; and &#8220;Famous Restaurant Collaborations

At last, “650 yen” has been released! Cup Ramen Industry Research: The New Battleground is “High-Priced” and “Famous Restaurant Collaborations

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