The History of Top Ramen & Cup Noodles

In 1958, a new food was invented with the goal to help end hunger in Japan. The inventor knew it had to be delicious, nonperishable, easy to prepare, and inexpensive. That food was his 29 cent pack of instant Ramen. Every day, 290 million people eat instant noodles. They've even been eaten in space. Roger, purportedly the astronaut, said, I enjoyed it, but you don't get billions of dollars in sales and a Sanrio Merch tie in just by accident. So how did a 48 year old businessman who knew almost nothing about making noodles start a multibillion dollar industry? Momofuku Ando was an entrepreneur with a wild resume. Everything from selling textiles, charcoal, and he even started a school at one point. This is the story of the multi-billion empire Top Ramen. Ando was born in 1910 in Taiwan while the country was under Japanese occupation. Tragically, his parents died when he was a young child, so he was raised by his grandparents, who owned a kimono fabric store. From an early age, he gained first-hand experience of running a business, and he developed a strong entrepreneurial drive that carried throughout his life. When he was 22, he followed in his family's footsteps and started a textile business. He eventually moved to Japan and enrolled in Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. Over the next two decades, Ando became involved in many business ventures, such as the manufacturing of slide projectors, and charcoal production. He sold engine parts, built prefabricated homes, and eventually founded a school, which soon landed him in trouble with the government. In 1948, he was convicted of tax evasion and served two years in jail for providing scholarships to his students, which was illegal at the time. However, this wouldn't be his last mistake. Ando served his time, and once he was released at the age of 40, he started a new career in the banking industry and worked his way up. Within several years, he became the president of the credit union. During that time, he was able to provide a stable environment for his wife and three kids. But in 1957, tragedy struck again. A chain reaction of events caused the credit union to go bankrupt. Not only did Ando lose his job, he lost his fortune, which was invested in the credit union. Suddenly, everything he had worked for, was lost and the only asset his family had left was their home. His life had hit rock bottom, and he was consumed by guilt and shame. He stated In that dark moment, his mind kept replaying his memory from years ago of the people waiting in the shivering cold for a warm bowl of noodle soup. He recalled the hungry faces of the people standing in line and he could relate to their feelings of hopelessness and worry. He even remembered the deep desire he had to end hunger in his country because of the suffering he had witnessed that night. He began to think about how special and comforting a warm ramen soup is to, many people. Then he started considering how appealing it would be if people could make ramen quickly and not have to wait. A ramen that will be affordable but tasty and easy to prepare. So easy that you just need hot water. But most important of all, the ramen would last a long time, so people could store it away for when it was difficult or impossible to prepare most meals. If people had ramen like this, he was certain people would never go hungry again.