Instant soups, known as Chinese or instant soups, are famous primarily for being cheap and ready to eat in a few minutes. According to many people, you do not even need water to prepare them, because pasta tastes best "dry". They are a rescue in crisis situations for many students looking for various ways to save money and time - especially during the exam session when there is so little of it. There would be no Chinese soups without Momofuku Ando, who, thanks to his invention, has become a guru of students all over the world.
Who is Momofuku Ando?
Contrary to appearances, Momofuku Ando was not from China. He was born in Taiwan in 1910, when the island was under Japanese rule. At the age of 22, he founded his own company, operating in the textile industry. After World War II, he decided to move permanently to Japan and opened another company there, which unfortunately contributed to the fact that he was imprisoned. After he was released, he did not give up and in 1948 he founded another company producing salt.
The idea of instant soups was born due to the shortage of food in the country. After World War II, Japan struggled with enormous problems and its citizens were forced to give up eating pasta, which was the basis of their culinary tradition. At this point, Ando decided to deliver it to his countrymen in a cheap and easy to prepare form. All research and experiments lasted 10 years, and finally in 1958 the product was introduced to the market. It gained immense popularity instantly. Instant soups came to Poland only in the 1990s.
Momofuku Ando received several state awards for his invention, including the Order of the Holy Treasure and the Order of the Rising Sun. Based on a survey conducted among the inhabitants of Japan in 2000, Chinese soups were considered the greatest invention of the 20th century. There are even museums dedicated to them in Osaka and Yokohama.
Ando died at the age of 96 - as he himself said, Chinese soups were the secret of his longevity.
Chinese soups - a luxury product?
Instant soups, however, were not always as cheap as they are today, so students could not necessarily afford them. At the time of their release to the market, they were considered a luxury good in Japan. The first type of this product cost 35 yen, which was quite an exorbitant price at the time. Currently, it is only PLN 1.23.
Ando's invention was very popular from the very beginning, and it has remained so to this day. In 2012, over 101.4 billion soups were sold all over the world, of which 300 million in Poland (our country took 21st place in this respect). The product is most popular in Asia. 44 billion soups were consumed in China, 14 billion in Indonesia, and 5.4 billion in Japan. These data were provided by the World Instant Soup Association. In Europe, however, Poland is one of the leaders, followed only by Great Britain.