Maruchan

Maruchan Inc.

Maruchan Inc Logo
Type	Private
Industry	Food
Founded	1972
Headquarters	Irvine, California, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Products	Maruchan Ramen Instant Lunch Yakisoba
Parent	Toyo Suisan
Website	Maruchan.com, Facebook.com

Maruchan Inc., also known as Maruchan (マルちゃん), is a well-known American producer of ramen noodles and related products. Maruchan produces over 3.6 billion packages of Ramen Noodle Soup a year and now has three manufacturing plants, two in Irvine, California and one in Richmond, Virginia. Maruchan produces enough noodles in one year that, if stretched end to end, they would reach Mars and back.^[1]

History

Maruchan Logo Small

Toyo Suisan Kaisha, Ltd of Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1953, is a leading consumer packaged foods company in Japan. They produce a wide variety of food products, from ramen noodles to fish sausage and packaged, cooked rice. Their corporate objective is “to deliver the earth’s most wholesome bounty to the dining tables of the world.” Toyo Suisan’s effort to become an international food company brought them to the United States, where, in 1972, they established Maruchan USA. In the beginning, Maruchan USA was only a marketing company, importing, and distributing ramen from Japan to the USA.^[2] After operating for five years as a distributor of imported products, Maruchan built its own manufacturing facility in Irvine, CA and in 1977 began producing Maruchan brand ramen at the Irvine factory. Since 1977 Maruchan has grown steadily and has become the top selling ramen brand in North America.^[3]

Name

Maruchan is a Japanese word composed of two parts, Maru and chan. Maru literally means round, as in the shape of a ball or a happy child’s face. Maru also means rounded, as opposed to square or angular. In Japanese, round has a connotation of friendliness. The word chan is a suffix, used with a child’s name. “Chan” is used to show endearment and affection for a child.^[4]

Products

Maruchan offers several distinct products with a wide variety of flavors.

• Ramen (instant noodles)
• Udon
• Soba
• Chilled Food
• Instant Lunch
• Yakisoba

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  Maruchan Chicken Ramen

• 

  Maruchan Pork Ramen

• 

  Maruchan Beef Ramen

• 

  Maruchan Instant Lunch - Beef

• 

  Maruchan Instant Lunch - Chicken

• 

  Maruchan Instant Lunch - Shrimp

• 

  Maruchan Yakisoba - Teriyaki

• 

  Maruchan Akai Kitsune (Japan)

• 

  Maruchan Midori no Tanuki (Japan)

Other flavors include:

• Lime Chicken
• California Vegetable
• Cheddar Cheese
• Oriental
• Roast Beef
• Roast Chicken
• Hot & Spicy Beef
• Hot & Spicy Chicken
• Cajun Shrimp
• Creamy Chicken
• Jalapeno Cheddar
• Teriyaki Beef
• Savory Soy Sauce
• Mushroom
• Picantè Beef
• Picantè Chicken
• Hot & Spicy Shrimp
• Chili
• Shrimp

References

• Maruchan Company Profile (2011)

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]

• Maruchan Company Website Maruchan USA website

External links

• Maruchan USA website
• Maruchan website (Japanese)