One of the world's most popular consumer products, the fast-cooking noodle dish or 'indomi', dates back to the invention of momofuku ando
momofuku ando, a Taiwanese entrepreneur with one of the most inspiring success stories, talks about his trials and tribulations that have made him one of the biggest entrepreneurs in Asia and the world, despite injustices, struggles, and perseverance in his life's path. An inspiring story. Momofuku Ando journey from prison to the top
Who is momofuku ando, the inventor of indomism?
momofuku ando, also known as 'Mr. Noodles is a Taiwanese businessman and are believed to have been the first to conceive the idea of quick noodles or fine noodles.
momofuku andocreated this revolutionary novelty in 1958, and noodles became a revolutionary invention and a 'world food'. Since the creation of Ando in the 1950s, instant noodles have been made in the same way today.
momofuku ando is also the founder and CEO of Nissin Foods, which is part of the large Nissin Group, which has become a giant today.
Momofuku Ando career
momofuku ando was born on March 5, 1910, in the Lithuanian province of Shai-Aban, which at the time was under Japanese occupation. After the death of his father, who was a wealthy man in his village, Ando grew up in a serious environment with two older brothers and an older sister.
Ando perceived a great love for work, industriousness, and diligence when he grew up watching them work side by side in a textile workshop.
Biography of Momofuku Ando
Ando's trading life began at the age of 22 when he founded his first business, a textile company in Japan.
He ventured into the production of knitted fabrics, opened a branch in Osaka, Japan, and was able to achieve great success and fame at a young age.
In World War II, Ando's commercial success ended with the entry of Japan into the war, prompting him to expand into other business areas, such as wartime salt trading, the opening of public schools, and the trading of consumer goods.
Patience despite failure
During World War II, the Indian inventor Ando was imprisoned twice in his lifetime, not only for commercial losses but also for his first arrest for selling munitions on the black market at the beginning of World War II.
His second imprisonment was after the war, but he was accused of tax evasion by setting up a bank and proved his innocence after two years in prison by donating educational scholarships to incompetent students.
The invention of noodles
After the war, famines and food shortages occurred in Japan, and innovative figures like Ando began to find practical solutions to meet the food needs of the time.
Ando came up with the idea of releasing instant noodles when several pairs of people were queuing up to eat a cup of noodles in the cold winter on a black market near Osaka Station.
Because of the importance of food at this time of year and the love of noodles by Japanese people, Ando thought of developing instant noodles that are easy to cook and can reduce the time that consumers are feeling cold.
With a small workshop of less than 10 square meters as its headquarters, Momofuku Ando began to work on innovation on the spot.
For a year, we developed products using simple and common tools and materials, slept only 4 hours a day, and never got bored.
That was until he came up with a revolutionary method of frying noodles in large amounts of oil for a short time and at high temperatures to remove moisture. He discovered it when he saw his wife Masako making "crispy tempura," one of the famous fish dishes in Japan. Or he came up with the idea of stir-frying pasta quickly because vegetables soaked in oil can remove excess water when fried in a certain way.
At the age of 84, Ando came up with a famous invention and formally unveiled the world's first cooked instant noodles, which Ando presented to solve the Japanese crisis.
Global success
Ando first introduced his creation to the world in 1958. It was released under the official marketing name 'Chicken Ramen', which means noodles.
There has been huge demand both domestically and internationally, and Ando has become known as 'Mr. Noodle', with annual sales reaching 4.3 billion yen just five years after the company's inception.
Currently, noodles (Indomy) are one of the most popular and sought-after products in the world, with nearly 97.7 billion servings consumed in 52 countries in 2015 alone, according to the World Noodles Organization.
momofuku ando death
Momofuku Ando, who invented these small bags of flavored dry noodles that take just three minutes to prepare, died on Friday, January 2007, in a hospital in Osaka, Japan. Ando, the founder of Nissin Food Products, was 96.
The cause was heart failure, said Larry Lampl, senior director of resources at the company's headquarters in Gardena, California.
