Case study
Acecook
Concept to Shelf: Developing a New Instant Noodle Brand
CLIENT
Aceook
LAUNCHED
completed in 2025
FORMAT
instant noodle bowl
SCOPE
end-to-end
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Concept to Shelf: Developing a New Instant Noodle Brand
A New Tea (and stress reduction) Experience
Acecook is Vietnam’s leading instant noodle manufacturer. For over 30 years, they have developed a wide range of high-quality noodle products. globally they have a dominant share in many Asian markets, but their presence in the U.S. is small, confined to indistinguishable products in Asian stores.
In order to reach ambitious US sales goals, Acecook strategized to expand beyond Asian supermarkets and into mainstream grocery retail through a new instant noodle
THE CHALLENGE
Design, develop, and launch
Instant noodles are increasing in popularity in the US, yet it is a very crowded category. While there are many new brands elevating instant noodles with higher quality products, the low-cost incumbents still dominate sales and shelf space. The client wanted a new brand and product strategy that would allow them to win in mainstream retail.
HOW WE DID IT
STRATEGY
01
DISCOVER
- Review existing market & consumer research conducted by client to provide a foundation for consumer and market research workstreams.
- Consumer research to identify target segments and consumer instant noodle behaviors and preferences.
- Competitive market research to produce a landscape report to identify white space opportunities.
- Market research utilizing expert interviews (e.g., retail buyers, brands, social influencers, etc) to identify market opportunity.
- Assess existing products and form hypotheses on leading products utilizing Acecook ingredients for American consumers.
02
DESIGN
- Concept workshop to create 3 distinct product concepts.
- Test and iterate a variety of ingredient combinations in a series of chef-led sprints to align on directions for 6-9 prototypes.
- Collaborate with client to select 4 prototypes for refinement.
- Develop refined prototypes of 3 selected concepts for commercialization.
03
COMMERCIALIZE + VALIDATE
- Brand positioning to create a unique brand and story that makes a new instant noodle product accessible, enticing, and culturally relevant. Outcomes included a “brand house” with target profile, brand pillar, points of difference, and brand personality.
- Brand design, including brand name, logo, brand guidelines, package design, and sales collateral.
- Consumer testing and validation for brand positioning, naming, and package design.
- Through consumer and market research, we validated the interest in and white space for authentic Asian (including Vietnamese) flavors in the instant noodle category, and identified some areas for product differentiation (such as lower sodium).
- The KitchenTown and Acecook teams landed on brand concepts (to be tested) grounded in “iconic dishes of the Asian American diaspora.”
- Developed brand name, positioning, and package designs
- The new Noodletown brand debuted at the 2025 Summer Fancy Food Show
Results
“We’re happy to share that Noodletown received very positive feedback at the (Summer Fancy Food) show — both for its quality and its designs, especially the combination between flavors and Siukay noodles.”
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