KG Group food manufacturing company in Asian food rebrand
KG Group, a leading agriculture and food production group in the Baltic states, has upgraded their instant noodle brand "Sun Yan." The rebranded product includes new Asian flavors and matching packaging, prompted by the rising popularity of Asian foods in Europe and the desire of manufacturers to produce on site, in order to avoid logistical hindrances, as seen in the pandemic.
Baltic States growing fondness for Asian cuisine
The Baltic states are formally recognised as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but this informally extends to Russia, Germany, Poland, Sweden and Finland. According to studies, international cuisine favoured in these countries includes Italian and American, but Asian food is soaring in popularity and KG Group is moving to capitalise on this.
In 2020, the growing popularity of Asian flavours led the instant noodle and ramen market to reach $28.4B. Keen European manufacturers have caught up on the trend by producing instant noodles locally. KG Group has added new Asian flavours and changed the packaging for the brand "Sun Yan" launched in 2014, established locally and across European.
KG Group employs a “from field to table” production chain model. Since the grains are purchased from local farmers, the company mills the raw materials in the on-site mill, later uses the flour to manufacture the noodles, and manages the subsequent logistics.
By controlling the logistics process, KG Group is therefore able to avoid the logistic hindrances caused by the pandemic and deliver the products to 26 European countries within 24 hours, including the UK.
New "Sun Yan" products are now available in Denmark, France, Spain, Latvia, Estonia, and later in Sweden, Bulgaria, Poland.
KG Group and stockpiling
The Euromonitor International Report 2020 shows that rice, pasta, and noodle retail volume and current value growth rates have increased significantly in the UK during the pandemic, due to the intense stockpiling of these products. The retail current value terms of these products has increased by 15%, reaching £1.7B.
KG Group exported 100M units of noodles, pasta and rice to the UK in 2020, making it almost 70% more than in 2019. Given the tendencies perceived in Q1 of 2021, the company is expecting to export around 130M units of products to the UK this year.
"Sun Yan rebranding has been the next step after building the new production plant which facilitated the manufacture of nest noodles," said Tautvydas Barštys, CEO at KG Group. "Now, given the growing demand for Asian-style noodles, the built-in latest technology allows us to focus on upgrading the consumer favorites and compete in full force with other instant noodle manufacturers in Europe."
"After thorough analysis of global tendencies, we saw that Asian foods are still on the rise in Europe," added Oksana Šimoliūnaitė, product and brand manager at KG Group. "By upgrading the brand, we wanted to offer consumers an outstanding product which would complement their ever-changing needs. A miniscule detail to new recipes allowed us to achieve the most authentic Asian flavors through a variety of traditionally eastern ingredients, such as ginger, anise, or cinnamon.
