Currently, the company produces 300 cups of instant noodles per day, selling them for Bt45 per cup in souvenir shops for average income of Bt13,500 per day.

However, Ben Ben Food plans to distribute its products in modern trade outlets after an initial marketing success at CentralPlaza Ubonratchathani this year, said the company’s owner, Thanwarat Siriphantong.

“Now that we want to expand our market to the modern trade channel, we have to have enough production capacity to support it,” she said.

The investment budget will come from the company’s internal cash and a loan from the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank).

Thanwarat said that before producing instant Vietnamese noodles, her family produced moo yor processed pork under the brand Baan Moo Yor. Then she found out that Ubon Ratchathani University had successfully developed a way to produce instant Vietnamese noodles. This would appeal to lovers of Vietnamese noodles for when they travel.

“We asked the university if we could make this product to sell commercially. The university was OK with it and gave the production rights to |three companies in UbonRat-chathani province in the last quarter of last year,” she said.

After getting the licence, Ben Ben Food started production early this year and introduced the product at a food fair at CentralPlaza Ubonratchathani from February 26-28, selling Bt60,000 worth during the three-day event.

“Seeing strong demand for our product, we began distributing it in souvenir shops in Ubon Ratchathani province. We were able to sell an average of 300 cups a day, at Bt45 per cup,” Thanwarat said.

Meanwhile, the demand for instant Vietnamese noodles has continued to show strong growth, especially noodles with chicken. This inspired Thanwarat to invest in to expanding the company’s production capacity for distribution nationwide, with the potential to export the product as well.