In sad news for college students everywhere, instant ramen inventor and Cup Noodles founder Momofuku Ando died over the weekend at the age of 96. Born in Taiwan, Ando was a struggling businessman in post-war Japan when he started his search for a convenient, quick, delicious meal to help feed the masses.

After nearly a decade of work, Ando debuted Chicken Ramen in 1958. As sales took off, Ando – never one to rest on his laurels – came out with the Cup Noodles in 1971, creating an instant best-seller. Ando’s company, Osaka-based Nissin Food Products, sold 86 billion meals in 2005 alone.

The entire concept of Ando’s work – the noodles, the packaging, the cost, the flavor – all revolutionized global eating habits. Momofuku Ando may not have lived to see sales reach 100 billion (as he predicted for 2009) but his product lives on in our hearts and in our stomachs.

Link via businessweek.com

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This entry was posted by Jeffrey Goodman on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 at 5:11 am and is filed under Design, Social Change, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.