is a brand of instant ramen noodles,

cup noodle Cup noodle is a registered trademark of Nissin Foods and is known as precooked instant noodle with flavoring powder and/or seasoning sauce sold in a polystyrene, polyethylene, or paper cup. The flavoring can be in a separate packet or loose in t ...

s, and

Yakisoba ''Yakisoba'' ( ja, 焼きそば ), "fried noodle", is a Japanese noodle stir-fried dish. Usually, soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour, but soba in yakisoba are Chinese noodles (Chuuka soba) made from wheat flour, typically flavored with ...

produced by

Toyo Suisan , best known as , is a Japanese company specializing in ramen noodles, through its Maruchan brand, seafood and frozen and refrigerated foods. It is the fourth-largest transnational seafood corporation. History The company was established in 195 ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. The ''Maruchan'' brand is used for noodle products in Japan, and as the operating name for Toyo Suisan's division in the United States, Maruchan Inc. In 1972, Toyo Suisan entered the American market with Maruchan USA, and in 1977, established a plant in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

. Maruchan has other plants in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, and one in

Bexar County, Texas Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...

. Maruchan produces over 3.6 billion packages of ramen noodle soup a year. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Maruchan ramen is widely popular.

History

Toyo Suisan Kaisha , best known as , is a Japanese company specializing in ramen noodles, through its Maruchan brand, seafood and frozen and refrigerated foods. It is the fourth-largest transnational seafood corporation. History The company was established in 195 ...

, Ltd of

, founded on March 28, 1953, is a consumer packaged foods company in Japan. Toyo Suisan's effort to become an international food company brought them to the United States, where, in 1972, they established Maruchan USA. At first, Maruchan USA was only a marketing company, importing and distributing ramen from Japan. After operating for five years as a distributor of imported products, Maruchan built its own manufacturing facility in

, in 1977, where it began producing Maruchan brand ramen. Since 1977 Maruchan has grown steadily and has become an industry leader in North America, alongside other instant noodle brands such as

Top Ramen is an American brand of instant ramen noodles introduced in 1970 by Nissin Foods. History Instant noodles were invented in 1958 by Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-born founder of the Japanese cuisine, Japanese food company Nissin Foods, Nissin. ...

and

Sapporo Ichiban is a brand of instant noodles (primarily ramen) manufactured by Sanyo Foods of Maebashi, Gunma, Japan. Sapporo Ichiban noodles are also manufactured in Garden Grove, California for the United States and North American market. Introduced in 19 ...

Name

Maruchan is a Japanese word composed of two parts, maru and chan. Maru means round, as in the shape of a ball or a happy child's face. In Japanese, round has a connotation of friendliness. The word

chan Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia *Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) *Chan Caldwel ...

is an

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

suffix, used affectionately for a child or as a term of endearment.

References

{{authority control Companies based in Tokyo Japanese brand foods Japanese noodles Food and drink companies of Japan Instant noodle brands Food and drink companies established in 1972 Japanese companies established in 1972 es:Maruchan ja:東洋水産

History

Name

See also

References