Latest news with #Maruchan
Associated Press
13-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Maruchan Introduces NEW GOLD Spicy Tonkotsu to Premium Instant Ramen Line
The New Restaurant-Inspired GOLD Flavor Now Available on Amazon IRVINE, Calif., May 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Maruchan, America's favorite instant noodle brand, announces the launch of its newest premium offering: Maruchan GOLD Spicy Tonkotsu. This exciting addition to the GOLD lineup brings the rich, complex flavors of authentic tonkotsu ramen with a spicy kick to consumers nationwide, available on Amazon in 5-pack bundles. The new Spicy Tonkotsu variety features Maruchan's revolutionary air-dried noodles that deliver an unmatched restaurant-quality texture. By dehydrating the noodles with air-dry technology rather than cooking in oil, Maruchan creates a noodle texture, chew, and mouthfeel that mimics the type of noodles served at ramen restaurants. Each package includes a special seasoning blend rooted in Japanese tradition, creating a bold broth that honors classic Japanese ramen craftsmanship while adding a customizable spicy element. 'We're thrilled to introduce Spicy Tonkotsu to our premium GOLD collection,' said Katelyn Stokes, Marketing Director at Maruchan. 'Our market research consistently showed that ramen enthusiasts were craving more bold, spicy options that don't compromise on authenticity. This new flavor is the perfect response to the growing trend of consumers seeking more adventurous flavor profiles in their at-home dining.' This launch follows the successful expansion of Maruchan GOLD earlier this year, which saw the brand's existing Soy Sauce and Spicy Miso varieties reach more than 1,500 Walmart locations across the United States. Since its initial debut in 2019, the GOLD line has consistently attracted consumers seeking convenient yet premium meal solutions that don't compromise on taste or quality. Maruchan GOLD Spicy Tonkotsu is available now on Amazon in 5-pack bundles, with anticipated expanded retailer availability later this year. Meanwhile, GOLD Soy Sauce and GOLD Spicy Miso continue to be available in Walmart stores nationwide, as well as through Amazon and Instacart. About Maruchan Maruchan Inc., established in 1953 by Japanese visionary Kazuo Mori, revolutionized the instant ramen industry with a mission to create convenient, affordable noodles for everyone. After success in Japan, Maruchan began U.S. production in Irvine, California in 1977, where they perfected classics like Chicken Ramen Noodle Soup and Instant Lunch. Today, Maruchan operates manufacturing facilities across America, continuously expanding their lineup with innovative flavors and product offerings that inspire ramen recipes. Maruchan believes in bringing people together through the joy of noodles, creating moments where families and friends can share a warm, satisfying meal. Their commitment to quality ensures every bowl delivers the same delicious experience. In the U.S., Maruchan Inc. develops and markets a variety of products, including Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup™, Maruchan Ramen Bowls™, Maruchan Yakisoba™, Maruchan Instant Lunch™, Maruchan Rice Bowls, Maruchan Wonton Ramen Noodle Soup Bowls, and Maruchan GOLD™. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Maruchan
Buzz Feed
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
24 Things To Help You Whip Up Impressive Meals, Even If You Graduated From The Trader Joe's Academy Of Frozen Food
We hope you love our recommendations! Some may have been sent as samples, but all were independently selected by our editors. Just FYI, BuzzFeed and its publishing partners may collect a share of sales and/or other compensation from the links on this page. If you don't already have scissors to cut the gross bits off of chicken tenders... what are you even doing. 😩 1. A TikTok-viral floating pasta timer so you never under or overcook your pasta again. Al Dente, as he's known, sings a different song every seven, nine, and 11 minutes so you know exactly when you pull your farfalle. Check this dude out on TikTok. Promising review: "Fun little kitchen gadget — it really works. Bought this as a gift last January and ending up keeping it with the plan of buying several more to give as Christmas gifts this year." — KW Get it from Amazon for $24.99. 2. Some dried ramen topping — with goji berry, carrot, cabbage, corn, shiitake mushroom, green onion, shrimp, squid, and beancurd — you simply rehydrate and toss on top of noodles, pizza, salad, etc. You're basically a Next Level Chef contestant when you pull this from the cupboard! Promising review: "Love the taste and texture that this mix adds. It makes a plain bowl of Maruchan feel like a proper meal. A few people have complained about a fishy smell... but it's a seafood mix. I love it and will get a lot of use out of it." — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $23.99. 3. A Himalayan salt block if you've been chomping at the bit waiting for grilling season to get here. A big ol' slab of steak and some veggie kebabs cooked to perfection on a hunk of salt??? Let's goooo. Amazon Promising review: "The meat came out with a nice salted crust and the salt block kept the meat juicy and moist. I wouldn't grill any other way if I could! I bought this for my father as a gift for his birthday and he LOVES IT. When it's not in use, it's a good table centerpiece in my opinion." — just someone Get it from Amazon for $32.99+ (available in two sizes). 4. A veggie chopper so you can dice up an onion as impressively as former VP Kamala Harris. If you haven't seen it, I'm gonna need you to open another tab and promptly google "Kamala Harris and Mindy Kaling cook masala dosa," because, man, it is a thing of beauty. Fullstar is a small business established in 2017 that specializes in kitchen gadgets. Check out a TikTok of their veggie chopper in action. Promising review:" I was skeptical at first 'til I opened the box and found a very sturdy, very well-built kitchen tool inside. I read the pamphlet it comes with, and it explained all I needed to know when first using it. And, it was very easy to use. I bought it for a specific recipe I was going to make, and it called for lots of chopped onions and potatoes. It went through them like a champ and did exactly what I wanted. A very good deal and a good product. Would buy it again." — W.L. Shute Get it from Amazon for $24.95 (clip the $5 off coupon to get this price!; available in four colors). 5. A Thaw Claw that'll weigh down your meat in the sink and thaw it out seven times faster than if you left it on the counter. Now that you have to thaw your own meats, you understand why mom was royally PO'd every time you were so sucked into Sims 4 (recreating your neighborhood, naturally), that you totally forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer. Bonus: The ThawClaw is a small biz! Promising review: "I am a stickler for properly defrosting meat after working in food service for years and this makes that process super easy and surprisingly quick! I've even convinced my father — a retired rocket scientist — that this is the best way to defrost." — Sarah Get it from Amazon for $10.95. 6. Some bat-shaped kitchen shears you can use to chop up herbs and remove the creepy bits from your chicken tendies. Trust me, as someone with a weak stomach... it makes such a difference!!!! Amazon Promising review: "What is there not to like about bat scissors? These are durable, comfy on the hand when cutting, and they are sharp... Plus, they look awesome in my knife holder. 😀" — sharon skully Get it from Amazon for $14.20. 7. A breakfast sandwich maker that simultaneously cooks your egg, toasts your bread, warms precooked meat, and melts cheese so you can slap together the ultimate breakfast sammie without having to wait in line at Dunkin' or Starbucks. Promising review:"I am actually excited for my weekday breakfast now. These homemade McMuffins are so good! My favorite version uses sliced tomatoes, Swiss cheese, and precooked bacon (from Costco). So many options, so easy! My kindergartener and my teenager both love it. I may have to buy another one for our family. It's also easy to clean with a quick wipe-down." — Joolie Get it from Amazon for $32.99 (available in six colors). 8. Or a super easy-to-use egg bite maker so you can make lil' egg bebes that adhere to your keto/paleo/gluten-free/vegetarian lifestyle and *don't* cost $9 (plus the gas to get you to the drive-thru). Psst — a lot of folks also use these for pancake and protein pancake bites, too! Promising review: "I bought this in hopes of making egg bites similar to Starbucks, and I have not been disappointed. I chose this one after reading reviews on the smaller four-bite size. I have used it multiple times and have had excellent results each time. I followed the recipe in the booklet and used a tip from another reviewer that suggested to triple the cottage cheese amount. It's very easy to use and clean." — April124 Get it from Amazon for $32.60+ (available in three colors). 9. A neutral set of silicone-coated kitchen utensils so you can throw away the mismatched ones you've been using since college. Amazon The utensils can withstand temperatures of -40 degrees F up to 446 degrees F. Each set includes 24 tools and a holder. Promising review:"I don't normally write reviews, but I went out of my way to share this! I love these; they are super cute and really nice to cook with! I went through and threw away all of my plastic spoons and spatulas after using these. I'm definitely a fan!" — Patricia B. Get them from Amazon for $21.99+ (available in eight color combos). 10. A colorful pan — from BuzzFeed's Goodful line — that's not just cute, but has the ability to kick all of your other dented and scratched pots to the curb as it can pan fry, sauté, sear, boil, simmer, blanche, braise, poach, deep fry, stew... and more, but I'll stop myself there. Promising review: "I waited to write a review until I'd actually tested the pan and after using it for 2 months, I can honestly say that it is amazing! It's the best cookware product that I've ever used as it heats up evenly and cleans so easily (even the bottom of the pan still looks new). I am currently looking at other Goodful products to replace my other pots, so YES, I'd highly recommend this product!" — Johnny O Get it from Amazon for $49.99 (available in eight colors). 11. A silicone crab or witch utensil holder ready to triumphantly hold your spoon over its head so it doesn't melt on the side of your stove while you're cooking. Promising review: "Probably the coolest holder I have ever seen. Bought it for my wife and she loves it and thinks it's cute. I laugh when I look at it, just cool as all! Hangs on all of our pots and pans, stays cool. Easy to clean and looks awesome. Great addition to any kitchen. Works great, does exactly what it is intended to do!" — Logan E. Get it from Amazon for $13.95. 12. A Dracula garlic mincer because garlic powder simply doesn't compare to freshly minced garlic when you're whipping your own Olive Garden–inspired "Tour of Italy" (chicken parmigiana, lasagna, and fettuccine alfredo, obvi). PS: You can also use it for ginger! Promising review:"I purchased this as a gift for my friend who is a fantastic cook — she uses fresh ingredients almost exclusively — but pressing fresh garlic is a task usually delegated. No longer — Gracula is there for her. She uses him nearly every time she needs garlic (which is basically daily) and months later still makes a point of saying how much she enjoys the gift. Anyway, definitely recommended for people who cook with garlic and have a sense of humor." — L Get it from Amazon for $16.95. 13. Modular sheet pan dividers so you can make a one-pan meal without overcooking any of the elements. Sick of burning your butternut squash while you wait for your Brussels sprouts to finish? Well, now you can pull 'em out as soon as they're done without worrying about shuffling several hot pans. Amazon, Prep'd, the small biz that created these handy dividers, was founded in 2015 by two industrial engineers who believed cooking should be simple, easy, and ultimately fun. Promising review:"These are great for so many reasons. We're in a mixed gluten household (one person has celiac and is diabetic, but we are not all doing a gluten-free diet). We can portion control for carb counting and separate out gluten-free vs. none on one pan. Plus, cleanup is just throwing in the dishwasher!" — J Fans Get a set of four from Amazon for $32.99. 14. A pastel knife set with such an arresting design, one reviewer warns not to forget they're super sharp, too!!! Promising review: "I am a sucker for everyday use items that are effective at what they do and also super beautiful to look at. The pastels are just perfect. I agree with everyone, though, do not get comfortable and forget how sharp they are." — Ibric Family Get it from Amazon for $16.99. 15. A set of toaster oven bags if you're always craving a grilled cheese but don't want to pull out a pan. Just put together all your fixins, drop 'em in the bag, and let your toaster do the work for you. Amazon, You can also heat up pizza slices, chicken nuggets, and more with it, meaning you'll have dinner ready in a matter of minutes. Reviewers say these are also great for anyone with a gluten allergy who needs to keep their bread separate in the toaster. Check 'em out on TikTok here! Promising review:"This item is so cool and it real works. Makes a great sandwich and supper easy too use and clean up." — Flecia Young Get them from Amazon for $5.99+ (available in packs of 4, 6, and 10). 16. A foldable mushroom funnel so you can transfer your liquids without spilling them all over the counter. Think of how many paper towels this will save you!! Amazon To use it, just flip it inside out and stick the "stem" through your container's opening. Plus, it's dishwasher safe! Promising review: "I am obsessed with this funnel!!! I juice a lot of citrus and juices for cocktails, and this little guy is the perfect size for bottling. It's beyond cute and really great quality. I'm always hesitant about buying silicone items, as I don't want them to be too thin. This is perfect! Sturdy and cute! Can't get better than that! The perfect addition to any cottagecore kitchen!" — Abbey Klem Get it from Amazon for $13.95. 17. An Amazon Basics 6-quart Dutch oven that people compare to budget-busting versions from Le Creuset, Staub, and Lodge. Here you come, TikTok recipes! Promising review:" Le Creuset? Don't know her. I have always wanted one of these enamel-covered cast iron beauties, but even from the outlet stores, they were expensive. I saw this guy after finding a stew recipe that went from stove to oven, and I got it. I am DELIGHTED with this purchase! I've cooked in it several times, including a chili recipe tonight that had to reduce by half. It left a ridiculous ring on the inside, and that sucker wiped right out. I haven't burned or scorched any of my foods and it's pretty, too!" — HerRoyalHighness Get a 6-quart Dutch oven from Amazon for $47.84+ (available in two other sizes and 11 total colors). 18. A cactus measuring spoon set made from ceramic so they won't melt when oops! you accidentally leave them too close to the stove. Amazon Promising review: "The cutest measuring spoons I've ever owned. They feel high quality and look great in our kitchen. I love using them." — Ash Johnson Get it from Amazon for $20.99+ (available in three styles). 19. An automatic spice grinder so you can top off every dish with a bit of spice and in the most ✨extra✨ fashion imaginable. Kayla Suazo / BuzzFeed BTW — this grinder is battery-operated, so make sure to get a few AA batteries, too! Promising reviews:"Nothing like freshly ground spices to add a little snap to your cooking. The pods snap on and off with ease and the grind size is very easy to adjust from barely ground to pulverized... The ability to group commonly used spices together in threes and carry them across the kitchen or outside to the grill just adds to the usability." — Todd Tittle Get it from Amazon for $34.99+ (available in eight colors, comes with grinder and two interchangeable pods). 20. A pair of herb scissors if you just don't have the patience to finely dice your scallions when there's shrimp fried rice to be eaten. (And "you're telling me a shrimp fried this rice??" jokes to be cheesily told.) Amazon The scissors have five blades which do the work of 10 knives! They also come with a cleaning comb which makes it easy to get out every last bit of your herbs. Promising review: "We use HelloFresh which has a lot of meals with scallions. My uniform knife cutting skills are sketchy at best and I just knew there had to be a gadget out there that would make things easier. These herb shears are awesome! They make my life much easier. They are just like the description says, easy to use, easy to clean, and so far seem pretty durable." — Mike Taylor Get it from Amazon for $8.99 (available in three colors). 21. A versatile Ninja Crispi Air Fryer system that can air fry, bake, crisp, and reheat when attached to your choice of included 6-cup or 4-quart container. And anything you don't finish? Just slap a lid on it, store it in your fridge, and enjoy leftovers the next day! No extra dishes necessary. Amazon Each air fryer comes with the"PowerPod," two containers (a 4-quart and a 6-quart), and lids. The PowerPod has auto-shutoff and four modes: Max Crisp, Bake, Air Fry, and Recrisp. The "feet" are heat-safe, so you can prop it on any surface without worrying! Promising review: "I got my Ninja Crisper today and reheated some stuffed bread with feta cheese and spinach, and it did a wonderful job. I t was like it just came out of the oven the first time. Nice and crispy outside, but the inside heated just right. I love that the bottom glass can be covered with the lid it comes with. They come with a metal plate you can put in the glass bottom part, and it actually fits into the lid, so it doesn't get lost. The glass makes a difference in the taste, too. It is a great product and well worth it." — Jennifer Get it from Amazon for $159.99 (available in three colors). 22. A set of decorative trivets made to protect your table from the scorching heat of your latest creation: an over-microwaved Hot Pocket (AKA molten lava straight from Earth's mantle). Amazon Line + Arc is a small biz! Promising review: "This was a really hard purchase for me. I searched for quite a bit but couldn't settle on any trivets that also fit the aesthetic of my kitchen. These are perfect! Love the color, size, shape, dimensions… all of it. It was hard to press that purchase button though just because of the price (there are sooooo many cheaper options), but these seem like they will stand the test of time." — Anna Get a set of three from Amazon for $19.99+ (available in seven colors). 23. A leaf-shaped herb stripper if you're looking for a quick and easy way to strip fresh cilantro, rosemary, and even kale while cooking. Slide them through and leave behind that bitter stem! Amazon Promising review: "This is one of those random kitchen gadgets that you would never even think about existing, but it's brilliant! We grew kale in our garden, and I was spending way too much time cutting the leaves off the stems, then I stumbled across this tool being suggested on a blog. I immediately ordered one and was very impressed! It saves me so much time stripping those leaves. I also use it for rosemary, oregano, and other herbs." — Elaine S. Get it from Amazon for $9.99. 24. And an artichoke spoon rest to keep your counters sauce-free. Just be careful if you have pets because they may try to snatch it off the counter in search of a treat! avOKado Ceramic / Etsy avOKado Ceramic is a Ukranian small biz from Oksana Kadochnikova.
Wall Street Journal
23-04-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Inside the Country's Saddest Airport Lounge
CHICAGO—The lunch menu at the Swissport Lounge at O'Hare International Airport, if you can call it that, leans more convenience-store staples than the carefully curated fare airline and credit-card lounges serve up to woo big spending travelers. Tiny sandwiches wrapped in brown paper. Prepackaged pasta salad. And those cups of Maruchan instant noodles that grocery stores sell for less than a buck. No chafing dishes in sight.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Simmering with Ambition, Noodle Newcomers Stir Up Ramen for the First Time In 50 Years
Kevin Lee was just the sort of young man any parent would be proud of. With a business degree from the University of California, Berkeley, he was a decade into a finance career and on the cusp of making partner at his firm. By any measure, he had a bright future. Then things changed. "I remember coming home one weekend and telling my parents I was leaving this venture-capital career track to start a ramen company," Lee said. Mortified, his parents drove him to a nearby grocery and marched him up and down the aisles arrayed with packets of instant noodles. They demanded to know: Aren't there enough ramen brands already? Yes, there were-but not the kind that Lee and his business partner Kevin Chanthasiriphan were planning on making. Ever since Nissin introduced Cup O' Noodles (today, just Cup Noodles) to America in 1971, a handful of imported brands have held dominion over the category by charging low prices for noodles that are very tasty and, much of the time, very bad for you. "Nissin, Maruchin, and Shin have dominated the U.S.," said Lee. "Their formulations are all the same-and the nutritionals are all horrible." Lee's brand Immi would be different. Its plant-based ramen promises 22 grams of protein. Its 6 grams of carbs are pretty low (Cup Noodles' chicken has 41 grams, for instance.) And while a container of Immi still packs 890 mg of sodium, that's an improvement over, say, the 1,310 you'll find in Shin brand ramen. As a contender, Immi is not alone. Beginning around five years ago, a brigade of hopefuls marched into the category, including Momofuku, Trader Joe's, Mike's Mighty Good, Ramen Express, and Chef Woo. These brands are determined to draw customers with their promises of culinary refinement and lower sodium. The trick, of course, is getting people to pay for it. Lee's charges aren't without merit. Inside a 59¢, 2.25-ounce cup of chicken Maruchan is 12 grams of fat and 1,190 mg of sodium-over half the daily limit suggested by the FDA. (Maruchin did not respond to ADWEEK's request for comment). Nutrition profiles like that didn't stop Americans from eating some $3.2 billion worth of instant noodles in 2024, according to Euromonitor data. Thanks in part to the pandemic, the 4.6 billion servings of ramen Americans ate in 2019 grew to 5.1 billion in 2020, according to Fortune Business Insights. And they haven't stopped. Imarc data shows that consumers scarfed down 6 billion servings of ramen last year, and predicts that consumption will increase by 1.7% annually through 2033. But newcomer ramen brands see promise in more than numbers. If a variety simply called 'shrimp' can find a following, they reason, there's a market for more authentic recipes, too. "We're not trying to compete with the 25¢ ramen packets," said Marguerite Mariscal, cofounder of Momofuku Goods, which introduced its ramen in 2021. The value-priced brands already on store shelves "serve their purpose," she said. "But we saw a gap between regular instant ramen and what you can get in a restaurant-especially for people who care about flavor but don't have the time to simmer broth for eight hours. Not that the legacy brands don't have zesty flavors, but Nissin's Cheddar Cheese and Maruchan's Creamy Chicken are clearly aimed at middle-American palates. Newer entrants prefer to play the authenticity card. Momofuku's ramen "build[s] flavor from pantry ingredients-soy sauce, chili paste, sesame oil," Mariscal said. "There's no mystery powder in our packets." 'We created Mike's Mighty Good because we saw a gap in the marketplace,' added Mike's cofounder Rita Vinnicombe. 'There was a big difference between the incredible ramen available in ramen bars and instant products in stores.' Mike's varieties (about $3 a cup) include kimchi and pork tonkotsu. Ramen's upstarts are also marketing healthy ingredients-or, at least, a reduction of the bad ones. Instant ramen is definitionally indulgent. In 1958, Nissin Foods founder Momofuku Ando sprayed raw noodles with chicken soup and then fried them in tempura oil. The precooking made an instant, self-stable product possible. But deep frying means fat. Wheat flour is high in carbs. And sodium? That's been inescapable. When Cup Noodles hit American shelves 53 years ago, fewer people worried about these drawbacks. But in recent years, Nissin has gone back to the kitchen. "We're looking at air-dried noodles," Nissin president and CEO Brian Huff told ADWEEK. "You take the oil out and look at reducing sodium. There are a lot of great technologies today that [let] you take out 50% of the sodium and not lose any of the taste." Shin's PR manager Kevin Chang said that his company also makes healthier varieties and rejected the contentions of critics like Lee. "Unlike what minor noodle companies suggest, we are not producing low-cost, unhealthy products," Chang said. "However, we must maintain a business strategy that stays true to the instant-noodle category." But the tradeoffs between health and taste apply to noodles as they do to all other foods. "If you're going to take a noodle and make it high protein, low carb, high fiber, it comes with taste and texture sacrifices," Lee said. He should know. When Immi debuted in 2021, its noodles were stiff, tough, and a flop with customers. Today, "we're on version five of the product," Lee said. "It's improved dramatically." Starting in 2020, Palmetto Gourmet Foods founder Reza Soltanzadeh saw so much potential in higher-quality ramen that he'd eventually create three new brands: the popularly priced Ramen Express (vegetarian and free of palm oil and MSG), Chef Woo (high protein), and Ramen Noodles by Chef Ramsay, a Gordon Ramsay collaboration that features ingredients like black garlic and shiitake mushrooms. A veteran food scientist, Soltanzadeh was confident he could produce a healthier ramen. The tricky part has been identifying customers who won't balk at the higher cost. For him, that's not a matter of convincing impoverished undergrads to spend more, it's addressing the consumer who's already buying a $7 iced caffè latte to drop $23.99 on a six-pack of Ramsay. "I'm not comparing Chef Woo to a Nissin cup that's 59¢," Soltanzadeh said. "I'm looking at a product from a price-elasticity perspective." These two distinct price categories help explain why old-guard instant ramen brands may not feel directly threatened by the newcomers. "Smaller instant noodle companies such as Immi, Momofuku, and Mike's Mighty Good can be understood as targeting niche markets within the instant noodle industry by launching healthy and premium products," Shin's Chang said. Huff, for his part, welcomes the newcomers. Sure, they may have more swagger, but they're never going to undercut Cup Noodles. "It's hard to beat a meal that fills your satiety for 30¢," he said. "You can't do anything today for 30¢." "When we first launched, people were like, 'this is blasphemy-a $6 ramen,'" Lee added. "Luckily, over the years, we've been able to bring that down. At Target, now, you can find us at $3.99." Is it working? Research from marketing analytics firm Tracksuit shows that while Immi trails its mainstream competitors in awareness, it ranks first as a premium contender. It also tastes good enough to have converted Lee's most important customer-his father. After the elder Lee refused to even try Immi for two years, he texted his son. "I ate your ramen for breakfast yesterday and today," he said. "I am liking it."
