把方便面市场重做一遍？康师傅的眼里不只有“爆款”

This article shares key insights on how Tingyi (Master Kong), a leading Chinese national consumer brand, has upgraded its instant noodle business to tap into new consumption trends. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. China’s consumption market is undergoing structural transformation, shaped by a "M-shaped consumption" pattern where consumers are both price-sensitive and willing to pay a premium for emotional value and innovative experiences. Instant noodles have evolved from a mere emergency hunger-satisfying meal to a product category that consumers actively seek out.

2. Master Kong has launched targeted products to address pain points of different consumer groups: it introduced a reduced-calorie, high-fiber braised beef noodle with zero frying to satisfy white-collar workers who crave tasty snacks but want to avoid excess calorie intake; it partnered with Sam’s Club to launch a premium seafood noodle tossed with goose fat and XO sauce, which meets middle-class consumers’ demand for high-quality quick meals; it also launched He Mian line with hand-cut meat chunks to serve young consumers’ demand for a fulfilling proper meal.

3. Master Kong has also innovated around usage scenarios: it set up supply stations at the summits of popular scenic hiking routes to create a sense of ritual, opened free 1-square-meter "warm noodle shops" to care for people returning home late at night, and hosted aerospace-quality exhibition tours to build consumer trust, all to infuse its products with emotional value.

This article outlines a transformation path aligned with new consumption trends for FMCG brands, with a wealth of actionable takeaways, as detailed below:

1. On the consumption trend front: China’s consumption market is seeing structural shifts, with "reverse travel" (low-key, low-cost travel) becoming the norm. The instant food industry has officially entered a new competitive cycle focused on experience. Consumer demand has become increasingly layered, diversified and personalized, requiring brands to shift from meeting basic functional needs to delivering comprehensive experiential value.

2. On product R&D front: The core priority is to first uncover consumers’ real needs, and develop customized products that solve pain points for different segmented groups, rather than blindly rolling out large-scale distribution. For example, developing low-calorie options for consumers with health anxiety, high-end premium products for middle-class consumers, and meal replacement options for young consumers. Precise demand matching is the key to earning market recognition.

3. On brand marketing front: Brands can break through traditional shelf-based thinking, innovate around usage scenarios, turn standardized products into warm emotional carriers, and close the distance with consumers by penetrating into various daily life scenarios to improve brand affinity.

This article analyzes the latest changes in the instant noodle track, and provides demand orientation, opportunity prompts and actionable lessons for instant noodle sellers of all types, as detailed below:

1. On demand changes: Consumer demand for instant noodles has fundamentally shifted. Consumers are no longer only seeking to satisfy emergency hunger, and instead pursue health value, quality experience and emotional satisfaction. The overall track still has room for growth via structural upgrading, and traditional instant food has become a product category consumers actively choose.

2. On opportunity prompts: Multiple segmented demand niches remain underserved. These include white-collar urban consumers’ demand for healthy, satisfying snacks, middle-class families’ demand for high-quality quick meals, and young consumers’ demand for meal replacement options, all of which are growing incremental markets worth entering.

3. On actionable lessons: Do not blindly pursue large-scale distribution; first identify the real pain points of your target consumer group, then match them with suitable products. At the same time, brands can expand beyond traditional sales scenarios, create product memory points by integrating with cultural tourism, public welfare and other activities, capture consumer mindshare, and improve product competitiveness.

This article sorts out new consumer-side demands for instant food manufacturers, and points out new business opportunities and transformation insights, as detailed below:

1. On product manufacturing and design demands: Consumer demand is now layered, and consumers no longer only prioritize low-cost hunger satisfaction. Manufacturers need to adjust production processes and product designs for different target groups: develop zero-frying and calorie-reduction processes for health-focused demand, and add hand-cut meat chunks and high-end flavor ingredients to meet high-end demand, so as to cater to differentiated market needs.

2. On business opportunities: The instant noodle track still has room for steady growth. According to Tingyi’s 2025 financial data, the net profit of its instant noodle business jumped 10.1% year-on-year, with high-quality experience-focused products already becoming the growth engine. Manufacturers can take on differentiated customized orders from different channels, for example producing high-end custom items for middle-class-focused channels like Sam’s Club, and meal-sized items for food delivery platforms, to expand their own business increment.

3. On transformation insights: Manufacturers need to abandon the old mindset that only prioritizes production efficiency, and instead focus on consumers’ comprehensive experience, adjust production directions in line with consumption trends, and capture the dividends of industry upgrading.

This article analyzes new development trends in the instant food industry and the core pain points of brands, and provides clear direction for service providers serving the instant food industry, as detailed below:

1. On industry development trends: The entire instant noodle industry is undergoing a leapfrog upgrade from a traditional processed instant food sector to an immersive experiential food industry. The core of industry competition has shifted from competing on price and distribution coverage to competing on consumer insight and experiential services. Industry upgrading has spawned a large number of new service demands.

2. On core client pain points: The core pain point for brands today is how to match layered consumer demand, how to extend products from traditional retail shelves to various daily life scenarios, capture consumer mindshare, and complete brand upgrading.

3. On solution directions: Service providers can develop offerings around these brand needs, including segmented demand research, scenario marketing planning, customized production process consulting, and cross-industry resource matchmaking. These services help brands accurately reach different segmented consumer groups, implement experience innovation initiatives, meet the demands of brand upgrading, and drive service providers’ own business growth.

This article sorts out the new demands FMCG brands have for retail platforms, and provides a reference direction for investment attraction and operation adjustment for all types of platforms, as detailed below:

1. On brand demand for platforms: Brands are now building layered product matrices, and products with different positioning need to connect with platforms that match their target audience positioning. High-end products need to connect with middle-class-focused channels, meal-sized products need to connect with food delivery platforms, and during the new product testing stage, brands prioritize audience matching over full-channel distribution from the start.

2. On platform operation and investment attraction adjustment: Platforms can introduce instant food products with positioning that matches their own audience positioning, enrich platform product assortment, and meet the demands of consumers at different levels. For example, middle-class-focused platforms can introduce more high-end experience-focused instant food products.

3. On risk mitigation: Platforms should adapt to the trend of structural consumption upgrading, adjust traffic allocation logic, reduce shelf space occupied by homogeneous low-price products, and allocate more display resources to high-quality, experience-focused products. This aligns with changing consumption trends and helps platforms avoid missing out on the dividends of industry upgrading.

This article uses Master Kong’s transformation as a case study to illustrate new developments in the traditional FMCG industry against the backdrop of consumption upgrading, and provides a lot of valuable content for industrial research, as detailed below:

1. On new industrial developments: China’s instant noodle industry has completed a phased leapfrog upgrade. It has shifted from a traditional processed instant food sector that met the general public’s need for hunger satisfaction, to an immersive experiential food industry that meets layered demand and delivers comprehensive experiences. The core of industry competition has shifted from competing on production efficiency and full-channel distribution to competing on consumer insight and scenario experience building.

2. On new business model exploration: Master Kong’s new model of "understanding consumers first, positioning products second" has verified the feasibility of experience economy in the traditional FMCG industry. By avoiding blind large-scale distribution and customizing products and scenarios for segmented demand, the model has effectively improved the brand’s gross margin and user loyalty.

3. On implications for industrial research: Traditional enterprises rooted in the food and beverage sector can maintain cross-cycle vitality as long as they continue to innovate in line with consumption trends. Traditional mature tracks can be entirely reinvented and unlock new growth space by digging deeper into user demand and carrying out experience innovation.