康师傅老母鸡汤面 正在悄悄走进年轻人的“情绪场景”

This article outlines the ongoing recovery trend of China's instant noodle industry and breaks down the growth logic of Master Kong's Old Hen Chicken Noodle Soup, introducing new industry shifts and product highlights of the FMCG sector for general consumers.

1. Aggregate industry data shows that China's domestic instant noodle market will reach 184.99 billion yuan by 2025, up 7.9% year-on-year, reversing its previous "out of favor" trend. In the first half of 2026, Master Kong's instant noodle division posted 13.733 billion yuan in revenue, a 2% year-on-year increase, marking steady growth for the industry leader. Old hen chicken flavor is the fastest-growing sub-category: its sales surged from 280 million servings in 2020 to 2.19 billion servings in 2024, boasting a 67.2% compound annual growth rate.

2. Master Kong's Old Hen Chicken Noodle Soup fits a wide range of daily scenarios: it works as a late-night energy boost after overtime, a light post-workout meal, or a gentle option when consumers are feeling under the weather. The product uses a 6-hour slow-simmer whole chicken process and patented freshness-locking technology to replicate the taste of homemade soup, and has won two stars from the Superior Taste Award (known as the "Oscar of the food industry") for its quality. It perfectly aligns with modern consumers' demand for a "sense of reliable warmth".

This article uses Master Kong's Old Hen Chicken Noodle Soup growth case to summarize new development trends and brand growth logic in the instant noodle industry, offering actionable insights for FMCG brands.

1. On the consumption trend front: Food and beverage consumption has completed a shift from function-driven purchasing to emotion-driven purchasing. Emotion is now the top factor attracting consumer attention, with the top three purchase drivers all being emotion-based. "A steady sense of familiarity" has become a scarce emotional resource in urban life, and Old Hen Chicken Noodle Soup accurately taps into unmet consumer demand for everyday warmth.

2. On product R&D: Sustainable growth must be built on solid product strength. Master Kong solved the long-standing pain point of industrial instant food failing to replicate the flavor of homemade soup by combining a slow-simmer whole chicken process with exclusive patented freshness-locking technology. The company also served as the core drafter of the industry group standard for old hen chicken soup noodles, establishing a quality benchmark for the segment. Leveraging its technical foundation, it has steadily expanded into derivative flavors to continuously deliver differentiated products.

3. On brand marketing: Brands can learn from Master Kong's strategy of extending product positioning into offline scenarios. Activations like the 1㎡ Warm Noodle Shop pop-ups and celebrity-led city events build authentic emotional connections with consumers, moving beyond pure traffic-focused logic to root the brand in users' daily lives.

This article analyzes the current recovery trend and niche growth opportunities in the instant noodle industry, outlining actionable operating directions and risk warnings for sellers.

1. The industry's overall growth trajectory is clear: the market will reach 184.99 billion yuan in 2025, up 7.9% year-on-year, reversing the decline caused by food delivery competition. Old hen chicken noodle soup is an undisputed high-growth blue ocean segment: sales jumped from 280 million servings in 2020 to 2.19 billion in 2024, with a 67.2% compound annual growth rate and strong remaining growth potential.

2. On opportunity capture: Consumer demand has shifted from simple satiety to emotional fulfillment, and there is a large unmet gap for light, nourishing instant food that fits multiple daily scenarios. Sellers should prioritize stocking this category to capture new growth dividends. Operators can follow Master Kong's example by emphasizing product quality and emotional value, and partnering with brands to create scenario-based in-store displays aligned with offline activations to capture demand from niche scenarios including late-night overtime, business travel, and post-illness recovery.

3. Risk warning: Avoid blindly chasing novelty flavors or engaging in price wars to chase short-term traffic. Consumers are increasingly willing to pay for products that meet real needs and deliver consistent quality. Prioritizing products from brands with strong technical capabilities is more likely to deliver long-term returns.

This article uses Master Kong's Old Hen Chicken Noodle Soup growth case to map shifting demand in the instant food industry, outlining new development directions and business opportunities for manufacturing plants.

1. On product design and production requirements: Consumer demand for instant food has shifted from "convenience" to "high quality + emotional value". Unlike traditional instant noodles that rely on heavy seasoning and strong flavors, consumers expect old hen chicken soup products to be light, natural, and replicate the taste of homemade slow-simmered soup, with inherent properties of gentle nourishment and everyday accessibility. Factories developing products in this segment need to adjust their R&D focus to prioritize replicating the authentic flavor of raw ingredients and locking in freshness, to align with new consumer demands.

2. On business opportunities: This light, nourishing instant noodle segment posts a 67.2% compound annual growth rate, far outpacing the industry average, and offers enormous room for growth. Factories can prepare capacity for this segment in advance and partner with leading brands to share in the segment's growth dividends.

3. Key takeaways: Factories should prioritize R&D investment in core technologies: freshness-locking and other core technologies are the foundation of delivering high-quality products. They also need to build flexible, agile production capabilities that can quickly develop derivative flavors based on core base recipes, to keep up with brands' pace of continuous innovation.

This article analyzes development trends in the second half of the instant food industry's存量 competition, maps core industry pain points and viable strategic directions, and provides insights for food-related service providers.

1. On industry development trends: China's domestic instant food industry has shifted from early-stage scale expansion to value deepening amid存量 competition. Consumer demand has also shifted from function-focused to emotion-focused, creating large numbers of new emotional, scenario-based demand in niche segments. This opens new growth opportunities for both food technology service providers and marketing service providers.

2. Core pain points for brands today: Brands struggle to replicate the authentic flavor of homemade slow-cooked ingredients while meeting consumer demand for emotional value and multi-scenario compatibility, all under the constraints of large-scale industrial production. Traditional flavor simulation methods no longer meet modern consumer expectations, and leading brands are actively searching for new solutions to improve product quality.

3. Directions for solution development: Technology service providers can focus R&D on freshness-locking processes, innovative canning, and other related technologies to deliver solutions that preserve the authentic flavor of raw ingredients for brand clients. Marketing service providers can deepen their capabilities in offline scenario execution, helping brands extend from product functionality to emotional connection to match brands' current demand for scenario penetration, and build new service growth drivers.

This article maps new growth dynamics in the instant noodle industry, providing clear guidance for FMCG platform operators on merchant recruitment, operations, and risk mitigation.

1. Core changes in the instant food track: The industry has shifted from historical price-based competition to value-based competition. Brands now need platforms to adapt product promotion logic for niche scenarios, and consumers are actively searching for high-quality instant food that meets emotional demand. Platforms need to adjust their recruitment and operation strategies to align with these new demands.

2. Directions for recruitment and operations: For merchant recruitment, platforms should prioritize high-growth niche categories similar to old hen chicken noodle soup. This segment posts a 67.2% compound annual growth rate, far outpacing traditional categories, and can drive new traffic and revenue growth for platforms. For operations, platforms can launch themed campaigns aligned with the new use cases of instant noodles, such as creating dedicated sections for overtime energy boosts, travel snacks, and comfort food, to align with new consumer mindsets and boost conversion.

3. Risk mitigation: Platforms should avoid over-supporting products that rely solely on low-price subsidies and novelty flavors to drive short-term traffic. These products rarely generate sustained repeat purchases and increase platform selection risk. Platforms should prioritize supporting brands with solid product strength that meet consumers' real, long-term demand, which aligns with the long-term development direction of the industry.

This paper uses Master Kong's Old Hen Chicken Noodle Soup as a典型 growth case to map new dynamics and new growth logic of China's instant food industry, offering high reference value for industrial research.

1. New industrial dynamics: The instant noodle industry, once thought to be permanently disrupted by food delivery and on-demand retail, has rebounded: the market will reach 184.99 billion yuan in 2025, up 7.9% year-on-year. The industry is undergoing deep structural change, shifting from early-stage scale expansion to value deepening in the second half of存量 competition. The core driver of the current industry growth is the resonance of demand, technology and scenario.

2. New shifts in consumption and business models: The consumer end has completed a transition from function-driven consumption to emotion-driven consumption, with emotion now the primary attractant in food and beverage consumption. Leading brands have developed a replicable new growth path: first, build a solid product quality foundation through technical R&D; second, match new consumer demand through product innovation; third, extend outward to emotional scenario penetration. This approach moves beyond traditional price competition and short-term traffic logic, delivering long-term growth by meeting users' emotional needs.

3. Implications for industrial research: In a存量 market, the core competitiveness of FMCG enterprises has shifted to delivering additional value beyond basic functions. Only by aligning with consumer mindsets and investing in deep technical foundations can businesses navigate industry cycles. The Master Kong Old Hen Chicken Noodle Soup case provides a highly典型 research sample for growth in FMCG存量 markets.