Top Ramen® Hatches Partnership with Iconic Sanrio® Lazy Egg Character, Gudetama™, through Limited-Edition Packaging and Merchandise Line
Through the partnership between Nissin and Sanrio, the global lifestyle company known for its many beloved characters including Hello Kitty® and Gudetama, fans can get their hands on unique packaging that showcase their collective love for the brands. Since January, fans have been slurping up the limited-edition Gudetama-themed packaging of select Top Ramen flavors, including Chicken and vegetarian Soy Sauce.
Nissin is elevating the experience even further by releasing Gudetama-inspired merchandise on its e-commerce store, Nissin Fan Store later this Spring. Launched in 2018, Nissin Fan Store has continued to offer consumers the opportunity to show off their love for ramen, with hats, T-shirts, costumes, stickers and more. Through this new collaboration, Nissin fans can embrace their favorite ramen paired with Gudetama, the adorable lazy egg who has catapulted into a cultural phenomenon. With several new and exciting merch items arriving in the coming months, fans will need to act fast before they get all slurped up!
“We’re always looking for new and exciting ways for fans to experience their beloved Top Ramen brand,” said Gary Lai, Director of Marketing for Nissin Foods. “By bringing together two iconic brands that our fans love, Gudetama and Top Ramen, we are combining pop culture with noodle goodness!”
To celebrate the partnership, Top Ramen has released five short videos featuring Gudetama across Top Ramen’s YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram channels. The brand will continue to release new videos each week, giving fans access to never-before-seen content. This marks a landmark moment in the brand history through a unique opportunity to create original content for the Gudetama series, with Top Ramen being among the first brands to do cross-branding animation with Sanrio.
“Through our collaboration with Top Ramen, we are adding to the rich history of Gudetama – one of our most popular characters – by giving fans a new way to engage and interact with the lazy egg,” said Susan Tran, Director of Brand Marketing at Sanrio. “We know that Gudetama’s fans have a strong interest in Japanese food, particularly ramen, which created a seamless cross-over with the Top Ramen brand.”
The Top Ramen products with limited-edition Gudetama packaging are available now through April and can be found at food retailers across the country. Visit www.nissinfoods.com/where-to-buy to find the closest location where Top Ramen is available.
Earlier this year, Top Ramen also made brand history when it launched its first product to be available in a microwavable bowl. Top Ramen Bowl comes in three classic flavors—Chicken, Shrimp and its vegetarian Soy Sauce offering –which include a sauce packet for extra flavor. Needing only water and a microwave, fans can slurp on their favorite instant ramen anywhere, anytime.
“The Top Ramen brand has seen tremendous growth over the past few years with the launch of Top Ramen Bowl and we are excited to continue this momentum with this new collaboration with Gudetama,” Lai added. “We look forward to seeing how Top Ramen fans react to seeing these two dynamic properties together for the first time!”
Nissin Food Products Co. Ltd. was established in 1958 by Momofuku Ando, who invented the first instant ramen noodle in Japan. In 1970, they started Nissin Foods (USA) Co., Inc. in Gardena, California introducing ramen noodles to U.S. consumers. In 1971, the company invented Cup Noodles, and revolutionized the industry by making it possible to package, prepare and serve noodles all in the same container. For over 60 years, Nissin Foods has been providing consumers with quick and delicious meal solutions.
In the U.S., Nissin Foods develops and markets a variety of products including Top Ramen®, Cup Noodles®, Cup Noodles Very Veggie™, Cup Noodles Stir Fry, Hot & Spicy, Chow Mein, RAOH®, and Souper Meal®, uniquely positioning them to meet the needs of today's busy lifestyles. The company's corporate philosophy inspires commitment to taste, convenience, and quality.
About Sanrio®
Sanrio, the global lifestyle brand best known for pop icon Hello Kitty®, and home to many other beloved character brands including Chococat™, My Melody™, Badtz-Maru™, Keroppi™, Gudetama™ and Aggretsuko™, is celebrating its 60th Anniversary this year. Sanrio was founded on the 'small gift, big smile®' philosophy – that a small gift can bring happiness and friendship to people of all ages. Since 1960, this philosophy has served as the inspiration to offer quality products, services and activities that inspire unique consumer experiences across the world. Today, Sanrio's legendary breadth of products are available in over 130 countries and in retail locations including department, specialty, national chain retailers and Sanrio boutique stores. To learn more about Sanrio, please visit www.sanrio.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter - @sanrio, @hello kitty and @gudetama.