It makes us delighted everytime someone listens to our concept and loves it. And it makes us happier still to be able to get a feedback about it’s tastes and what they feel about the product after getting a chance to experience it. Plus, when it comes from people that are immersed in all things culinary, a compliment means a million bucks.

The FoodChannel.com is an authority when it comes to good food and is targeted to the consumer (with an average of 200,000 unique visitors per month and 850,000 pageviews) , bringing over 40 years of experience in working within the food industry, world-class kitchens, trained chefs and knowledge to the table.

And the verdict is out!  “General comments were overwhelmingly favorable. “I could eat this on a regular basis,” said one enthusiastic taster. Whereas ramen noodles are thought to be “junk food, this stuff is real food,” commented another. “Better flavor. Better for you.”

“In short, we were pretty much bowled over.” Read the article below or find it on the front page of www.foodchannel.com in the column Latest News from February 24, 2009 onwards!

Instant Noodles Get Physically Functional

From The Kitchens of The Food Channel

Review of Red Chopsticks Instant Noodles

Instant noodles are a familiar, favorite convenience food. They’re cheap, they’re quick and easy to prepare, and they taste pretty good. They’ve enjoyed a long-term relationship with college students who are notoriously short on cash and kitchen skills.

But instant noodles have never been thought of as a nutritious food. Red Chopsticks aims to change that perception.

The company has introduced a line of products it calls “the world’s first functional instant noodles.” It consists of four microwaveable noodle bowls.

• Beauty Bowl with Marine Collagen and Vitamin E (Chicken flavor). The added collagen is said to help moisturize the skin and help reduce dryness and wrinkles.

• Power Bowl with L-Carnitine (Hot & Sour flavor). L-Carnitine has been shown to promote healthy body weight by reducing body fat, and even to improve sperm count in men.

• Kid Bowl with Omega-3 and DHA (Seafood flavor). Omega-3 fatty acids are heart-healthy and the fatty acid DHA promotes healthy brain development in young children.

• Green Bowl with Dietary Fiber (Seaweed flavor). Fiber is needed to help the body absorb nutrition more efficiently.

All four varieties are free of MSG, with no trans fat, no preservatives or artificial colors.

It’s interesting that, at least in the naming of the Beauty Bowl and Power Bowl, Red Chopsticks places the emphasis on the functional benefit right up front, ahead of the flavor. The company obviously sees this functionality as the products’ key point of difference from other instant noodles.

So, they’re the better-for-you instant noodles…but how do they taste?

The Review

Our taste panel tried all four flavor/function varieties and found them all to be flavorful as well as functional and highly convenient. We also appreciated that the packaging/bowls were reusable as storage containers and are recyclable.

The Beauty Bowl (Chicken) flavor was rated best tasting overall, featuring a rich chicken broth that was satisfying and not too salty.

We also very much liked the Power Bowl (Hot & Sour Shrimp flavor), which had a real spice kick to it.

The Green Bowl (Seaweed flavor) received mixed reviews, with some quite enjoying it, while others found the seaweed taste a bit off-putting.

The Kid Bowl had a sweetness to it that will undoubted appeal to children, but we adults thought it a bit too sweet.

Bottom Line

General comments were overwhelmingly favorable. “I could eat this on a regular basis,” said one enthusiastic taster. Whereas ramen noodles are thought to be “junk food, this stuff is real food,” commented another. “Better flavor. Better for you.”

Chefs noted that it would be simple to use the rice bowls as soup starters by adding chicken or other meat protein, vegetables and spices.

In short, we were pretty much bowled over.

For more information on Red Chopsticks Instant Noodles, you may visit the company’s website.

http://www.foodchannel.com/stories/1205-instant-noodles-get-physically-functional

We were very pleased by the request for our Red Chopsticks functional instant noodles for featuring on this highly popular television show on prime time in the UK. It is particularly fortunate to also have Atomic Kitten’s Celebrity MasterChef 2008 winner Liz McClarnon as the distinguished guest on the show as well!

“Merrilees Parker presides over the kitchen, and Celebrity MasterChef winner Liz McClarnon makes roasted onion soup with a Thai twist. Plus, a look at celebrity beauty foods.”

And reruns at:

Slimming, a leading fitness magazine, has chosen our Red Chopsticks Functional Instant Noodles to be featured in their “What’s in the Shops?” feature for February 2008. Their motto is simply: “We try, you buy!” With this in mind, they recommended all four and even describe our differences to entice your palette as well!

“Chopsticks

Instant noodles has become one of the most popular food items because of its convenience and ease of preparation. Mawai Food Corporation Limited has created the Red Chopsticks Brand Functional Instant Noodles to bring to market. There are many differences which make it unique! The noodles are thick and sumptuous due to the use of high protein wheat flour. Rice bran oil is used, unlike the industry-standard palm oil. All of the flavors also MSG free and there is no salt in the flavoring as well! It comes packaged in a plastic bowl with a plastic lid that are food grade and safe at high temperatures. No glue or aluminium foil is used in order seal the lid at all. As a matter of fact, the entire bowl can be microwaved! Furthermore, the packaging is attractively designed and can be reused!

Price per bowl: 49 Baht

Green Bowl – Seaweed Flavor
Beauty Bowl – Chicken Flavor
Kid Bowl – Seafood Flavor
Power Bowl – Tom Yum (Hot and Sour Shrimp) Flavor

Additional Contact Information about manufacturer and retailer:
Red Chopsticks products available at all Central Food Hall and Tops Market stores nationwide. Mawai Food Corporation Limited. Tel: 02-706-3755, 081-623-5865. www.redchopsticksbrand.com”

We were featured in the Business Section of the Bangkok Post on December 27, 2007! Click here to read the page in .PDF format.

We were featured in the Business Section of Post Today, a widely popular Thai language newspaper, yesterday! Click here to read the page in .PDF format.

“Caption: Sanguan Chanyaputhipong, Managing Director of Mawai Food Corp., Ltd., manufacturer exporter of instant foods, shows his Red Chopsticks Brand Functional Instant Noodle. The products have added healthy ingredients and aims to capture the premium market. Currently the products are available at Tops Markets and Central Food Hall stores nationwide with over 20 stores. This has been a shift from previously exporting most of the products abroad. There are four product flavors: Chicken Flavored Beauty Bowl, Hot and Sour Shrimp Flavored Power Bowl, Seafood Flavored Kid Bowl, and Seaweed Flavored Green Bowl. Price: 49 Baht per bowl.

Mawai Food Modifies Strategy - Targets Premium Domestic Market

Mawai Food modifies strategy and targets premium domestic market by emphasizing healthy attributes under Red Chopsticks Brand.

Sanguan Chanyaputhipong, Managing Director of Mawai Food Corp., Ltd., manufacturer exporter of instant foods, says that his company has decided to give more emphasis in the local market by making the Red Chopsticks Brand products available at all Tops Markets and Central Food Hall stores nationwide.

The Red Chopsticks Brand products are positioned as a healthy food with four target markets that are:

Beauty Bowl – chicken flavored and geared towards women.
Power Bowl – tom yum (hot and sour shrimp) flavored and geared towards men.
Kid Bowl – seafood flavored and geared towards kids.
Green Bowl – seaweed flavored and geared towards general public.

All products are 49 Baht per bowl, a price premium over the typical Thai brands that are 12-13 Baht per cup but is still cheaper than imported products that are priced at over 60 Baht per bowl.

“In the future, we also plan to expand by creating ready-to-eat soups and other convenient food products.” Investment for the manufacturing facility is in excess of 100 million Thai Baht on over 20 rais of land located in Samutprakan province. The company was established in 1999 with a capacity of 100,000 portions per 8-hour shift. Products are mainly for export and has just been placed in local retail channels.”

MSG is a very wide spread use food additive that enhances flavor. It has been scientifically proven to be very safe by many reputable authorities.

However, MSG is not a requirement for making great tasting products. Think of it this way, as the name implies, it enhances flavors that are already existing. Most companies use it as a economical tool to lower cost in order to gain more profit, and that really has to be said, is the only motive.

Besides, there are a growing number of people worldwide that have adverse effects from eating MSG. Some have headaches, heat flashes, racing heartbeats, dry throats, “Chinese restaurant syndrome,” and many other ill effects.

There is no better way than to flavor a product with authentic ingredients to begin with!