Nissin, the company that gave the world instant cup noodles, constantly comes out with new flavours. Starting with just the instant ramen cup noodle offering in the mid-1960s, the company’s range has expanded to hundreds of different types, with specific ones for various regions.
Providing cup noodles as an easy and low-cost food is one of the goals of the creator Momofuku Ando, who believes that ‘peace will come to the world when people have enough to eat’.
Besides the huge variety of recipes to meet the tastes of consumers in different regions of the world, Nissin also has special products in collaboration with other companies. Its latest collaboration is with Tomica, the brand of little cars that is familiar to the Japanese as Hot Wheels is to Americans (and people in other countries too).
Last month, Nissan and Tomica released ‘Cup Noodles on Wheels’ as a series of products which are like open-top cars. The series consists of 7 models, in what is known as the Dream Tomica Cup Noodle Collection. There is also on special ‘Dream Tomica No.161 Cup Noodle W Tab’.
Each model is scaled down to about one-third the size of a regular Cup Noodle package, measuring about 41 mm high and 35 mm wide. The cup is identical to the millions of Cup Noodle packs, with the wording also replicated.
The Dream Tomica No.161 Cup Noodle W Tab is more like an open-top bus (the type that takes tourist around cities). The ’W’ tab is a double tab on the lid (looks like an animal’s ears) which, when lifted, will show the ingredients inside.
The 5 flavours are Seafood, Tom Yum Kung, Spicy Noodles, Miso, Curry and Chilly Tomato.
Each pack is priced 880 yen (RM39) and are on sale from this month in Japan. While they might not be exported officially, in this age of globalisation, there are online retailers offering it.