Japan's leading instant noodle maker Nissin Foods Holdings Co. has entered the Myanmar market, seeking to cash in on swelling consumption in one of the world's fastest growing markets.

Sar Taw Kal Nissin Co., its local manufacturing joint venture with Lluvia Ltd., Myanmar's leading flour milling firm, released last week two types of packaged noodles with locally suited chicken flavor under the Wah-Lah brand, meaning "Have you eaten?" in the local language.

The joint venture, established in May 2017, will soon add two more flavors -- chilly Korean kimchi and spicy sesame -- with all four types priced at 200 to 300 kyat ($0.13-0.2) per package.

It plans to increase the variety of tastes to about 10 in the future, General Manager Hiroyuki Arai said at a launch ceremony in Yangon, the country's commercial capital.

Myanmar's instant noodle demand totaled 590 million packages last year, up 1.7-fold from 2013 and ranking 17th in the world, equivalent to a fourth of per capita demand in Japan, according to the World Instant Noodles Association's estimates.

The market is currently dominated by local brands and those from neighboring Thailand.

Arai told NNA that the local unit is aiming to sell 100 million packages annually by 2020.

He sees huge potential in the Southeast Asian country, saying it "already has traditional noodle menus like 'mohingar' (rice noodle with fish soup) and coconut noodle."

The joint venture, in which Lluvia has a majority stake, uses the local partner's 30 sales bases nationwide to penetrate the market. Lluvia is jointly owned by Capital Diamond Star Group, a local conglomerate, and Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp.

Japanese rival Acecook Co. started local production in July last year at a plant in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone on the outskirts of Yangon.

In Southeast Asia, Nissin, the instant noodle inventor in Japan, has advanced into Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (NNA/Kyodo)