Meet The Manufacturer: Indomie Interview

Interview * Donation from Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur * Donation from Eastland Foods * Indomie Curly Noodle With Special Laksa & Chilli * Indomie Mi Goreng Instant Cup Noodles * Indomie Mi Goreng Cakalang Khas Sulawesi Utara * Indomie Mi Instan Rasa Empal Gentong Khas Jawa Barat * Indomie Mi Instan Rasa Kari Ayam Medan Khas Sumatera Utara * Indomie Mi Instan Mi Goreng Jumbo * Indomie Mi Instan Rasa Soto Banjar Limau Kuit Khas Kalimantan Selatan * Indomie Mi Instan Rasa Mi Kocok Bandung Khas Jawa Barat * Indomie Curly Noodle With Chicken & Chilli Paddi * Indomie Mi Instan Rasa Soto Betawi Khas Jakarta * Indomie Mi Instan Mi Goreng Rasa Ayam Panggang Jumbo

I’m very pleased to say that now everything is together and today we’ll start Meet The Manufacturer: Indomie week! I have been really excited about this one – hope everyone enjoys it!

This interview was via email and answers are from their Marketing General Manager & Indomie Brand Manager. Hope everyone enjoys this interview!

THERAMENRATER.COM> Thank you for doing this interview! I have been a big fan of Indomie products for a long time – first with the Mi Goreng Satay and been trying everything I can find ever since!
Can you start by telling me a little bit about Indofood’s history – how did you start?

INDOFOOD> Indofood was founded in 1971 as Panganjaya Intikusuma. “Indomie” was established in 1972, one of the first instant noodle brands in Indonesia.
In 1994, Indofood was established by consolidating several companies, among them Panganjaya Intikusuma. In the same year, Indofood became a public company on the
Jakarta Stock Exchange.
Over the years, Indofood expanded its business in Indonesia and became a company known for its quality products not only in instant noodles, but also dairy, food seasoning, snack foods, nutrition & special foods. However, it is Indomie that is always synonymous with Indofood.
According to Nielsen, Indomie is a brand with one of the highest brand equity in Indonesia.

TRR> Indomie products are sold all over the globe – for my readers who aren’t familiar with your product lines, can you tell a little about them?

INDOFOOD> Indofood produces over 40 Indomie SKU to suit the diverse palate and budget of millions Indonesians. Indomie is first and foremost well known for its Mi Goreng, although locally it
is also well known for its Soto Mie, Kari (Curry), Ayam Bawang (Onion Chicken) & Ayam Spesial (Chicken) soup noodles, as well as many Regional flavours and the Special Quality Noodles.
Indomie Mi Goreng (translated literally as Indomie Fried Noodles) was first introduced in 1982. It was an innovative product that blended instant noodles with sweet soy sauce, seasonings and fried shallots to form a unique dry based instant noodle that is distinctively Indonesian. The taste is somewhat similar to Fried Noodles common on the menu of roadside stalls. Today, Indomie Goreng is sold in over 50 countries around the world.

TRR>  What made you decide to expand and sell your noodles in other countries?

INDOFOOD> We want to introduce Indomie Goreng to the world so that everybody can enjoy the unique taste of Indonesia’s best selling instant noodles. However, the Indomie export business really got its start because hundreds of thousands of Indonesian citizens study or work overseas. Most Indonesian who go abroad for long stints always bring a carton of Indomie noodles, however, they eventually run out of Indomie and have to go to their local Asian grocery stores to look specifically for Indomie (foreign noodles taste does not always agree with Indonesian taste buds). Enterprising importers noticed that there was demand for Indomie noodles and started to import Indomie from Indonesia.
Indonesian students and workers also inadvertantly introduced Indomie Mi Goreng to their local friends or colleagues. We have many stories of students cooking Indomie noodles in their dorms, and their foreign friends would all come to their room because of the enticing aroma and joined in. That is how Indomie Goreng was first introduced to foreigners.

Australians, in particular, love Indomie Goreng. Maybe they were introduced to it by their Indonesian unversity friends, or maybe they tasted it on their holiday in Bali. The fact is, Indomie Goreng is the best selling imported instant noodle in Australia.

TRR> You make a broad range of flavors of instant noodles – are there any new varieties that will be released in the United States and abroad soon?

INDOFOOD> For the Americas, we will be launching Indomie Goreng with chilli sauce shortly (the current product comes with chilli powder). We will also introduce Mi Goreng Cup Noodles for those who prefer the convenient Cup format. Now you can have your Mi Goreng Cup Noodles anytime, anywhere (at least where you have hot water handy).

TRR> I see your products on shelves at Asian markets all over my area in the US – any plans on opening an Indomie plant here in the future?

INDOFOOD> Unfortunately, we do not have plans to open a plant in the US.

TRR> What was the very first variety of Indomie noodles?

INDOFOOD> The first Indomie Noodes was Chicken flavour (isn’t that every instant noodle brand’s first flavour)?

TRR>  I have noticed all sorts of community events in foreign countries you put on – can you tell my readers about some of them?

INDOFOOD> In Indonesia, Indofood and Indomie support many events, most recently the 26th Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia. We also sponsor many school and community events. Most of our CSR goes into disaster relief operations during catastrophic events such as the Tsunami in Aceh in 2004, the big earthquake in Yogyakarta 2006 and in Padang in 2009, and most recently the Merapi volcano eruption in 2010.
In Nigeria, Dufil Prima Plc, the Indomie licensee for Nigeria, is very active in promoting Indomie. They have many CSR activites like donation of scientific laboratory equipment to public schools, donation to orphanages, and also sponsorship of events like the Lagos Carnival.

TRR> I’ve heard about people in Indonesia selling Indomie for school fundraisers? I find that fascinating; people here usually sell cookies or candy bars. Can you tell us a bit about this?

INDOFOOD> Our Medan branch has been doing this activity for a number of years. Many High School students in Medan have a curriculum in which they have to develop their business instinct, and one  activity is to have the students experience door-to-door sales.

Indomie supports this activity by providing the products which are a basic necessity in every household. The students get the benefit of experiencing selling products to consumers, and the profit from all sales is contributed to
the school to support school activities or to buy school equipment. In a way, this is similar to Girl Scout cookies, but they don’t have to learn how to bake ;-).

TRR>  How many packs and cups of instant noodles do you make every year worldwide?

INDOFOOD> In 2011, Indofood produced about 11 billion packs of instant noodles for domestic and export markets.

TRR>  Have you ever thought about varieties like macaroni and cheese or soy sauce flavored instant noodles for foreign markets?

INDOFOOD> At this time, we remain focused on the popular Indonesia flavours, but we continuously monitor demand and market conditions. If there is really a demand for new flavors, of course we will launch the new flavor(s).
We actually used to produce ‘Pizza’ and ‘Spaghetti’ flavour instant noodles, as well as ‘Cheese’ Pasta for the local market but it was not popular back then (maybe it was a product well before its time). Who knows, maybe we will relaunch it one of these days.

TRR> How does it feel to occupy the first and second place on The Ramen Rater Top Ten Instant Noodles In The World?

INDOFOOD> Indofood is very honoured that Indomie is ranked the number 1 and 2 in the Ramen Rater Top Ten Instant Noodles. It is amazing that such a distinctively Indonesian flavour can become so universally accepted. From the land down under, the Middle East, the Orient and the Americas, kids and adults alike love the sweet spicy taste, the firm noodles and the fried shallots toppings. Indomie Mi Goreng is truly the best tasting instant noodles in the world.

TRR> I have introduced many people to your products and especially to having Mi Goreng with a fried egg, something that is almost unheard of to add to instant noodles here in the US. Which are your personal favorite varieties of Indomie and what (if anything) do you add to them?

INDOFOOD> Eating Indomie with Eggs is actually pretty common here in Indonesia and we encourage this practice of adding noodles and vegetables because it adds protein and fiber to mostly carbohydrate noodles, to form a more balanced meal.
Indonesians love to abbreviate, and one of the most well known is INTERNET, which is the abbreviation of Indomie-TeluR-korNET (Indomie with Fried Egg and Corned Beef)
There are variations such as INTERJUNET which is Indomie-TeluR-KeJU-korNET (Indomie with Fried Egg, Cheese and Corned Beef) and INTERSAY which is  Indomie-TeluR-SAYur (Indomie with Fried Egg and Vegetables).
Most people will also add Chilli padi (very hot & spicy green chilli), corned beef, beef balls, vegetables, and copious amounts of Chilli sauce and/or Soy Sauce (they like it hot here).

TRR> What does the name ‘Indomie’ mean?

INDOFOOD> INDOMIE is an abbreviation of INDOnesia and MIE.

TRR> Any chance some of the products sold in Indonesia that aren’t sold in the US will be eventually?

INDOFOOD> Indomie has developed many distinctive ‘Goreng’ flavours, and it is our  champion product. To date we have Mi Goreng Cakalang (Skipjack Tuna Fried Noodles), Mi Goreng Sate (Satay flavour Fried Noodles), Mi Goreng Pedas (Spicy Fried Noodles), Mi Goreng Ayam (Chicken flavour Fried Noodles) and Mi Goreng Vegan (Vegetarian Fired Noodles). In our Special Quality Noodle range, we also have a new flavour Indomie Goreng
Ayam Cabe Rawit (Chicken Flavour Fried Noodles with Chilli Padi) along side existing Indomie Goreng Spesial (Special Fried Noodles) and Mi Goreng Ayam Panggang (Grilled Chicken flavour Fried Noodles).
We have just launched Indomie Mi Goreng Rendang (Spicy Beef Fried Noodles) in November 2011 in Indonesia to great acclaim.

TRR> On behalf of myself and my readers, thank you very much for doing this interview! I think this will be an interesting week of sampling your products!

Well, that’s it! I’ll be reviewing all sorts of Indomie samples that were sent to me from Indonesia this week! Happy noodling!