Indonesia's Most Popular Instant Noodle Brands: Where Does Mie Gaga Rank?

Two instant noodle brands, Indomie and Mie Gaga, have recently been the subject of much online discussion.

This stems from a viral TikTok and Twitter post about Djajadi Djaja, the commissioner of the Mie Gaga producing company. According to a video uploaded by Big Alpha, Djajadi started his instant noodle business in 1972 by establishing PT Sanmaru Food Manufacturing, the original producer of Indomie.

Subsequently, Indomie's popularity grew, leading Liem Sioe Liong, also known as Sudono Salim, to invite Djajadi to partner with Salim Group, the company behind instant noodle brands Sarimi and Supermi.

Djajadi Djaja and Sudono Salim eventually founded PT Indofood Interna Corporation in 1984. At that time, Djajadi held a majority stake with 57.5% ownership, while Salim held 42.5%.

However, Djajadi's company experienced internal financial problems in 1993. As a result, Salim decided to no longer use Djajadi's company as a distributor. Furthermore, Salim acquired full ownership of Indofood's shares, effectively ousting Djajadi Djaja from Indomie.

On December 17, 1998, Djajadi attempted to reclaim the Indomie brand by suing Indofood. Unfortunately, his efforts failed, even after reaching the appeals stage in the Supreme Court.

Djajadi eventually established a new instant noodle factory, starting in May 1993 through PT Jakarana Tama. According to Gagafood.co.id, they sell several instant noodle products such as Mie Gaga, Mie 100, Mie 1000, Mie Gepeng, and Mie Telor A1.

PT Jakarana Tama declined to comment on the viral social media news about Djajadi. The company stated that its commissioner never makes statements about its competitor, Indomie.

"Djajadi Djaja and PT Jakarana Tama will not respond to any news that is circulating," Djajadi said, as quoted from their website on Friday (August 25, 2023).

Most Popular Instant Noodle Brand

According to independent research firm Frontier Group, Indomie is the most popular instant noodle brand in Indonesia, ranking first in the Top Brand Award 2023.

Indomie achieved the highest Top Brand Index (TBI) score among other instant noodle brands, at 72.5%. It was followed by Mie Sedaap with a TBI score of 16.2%.

Next, Sarimi ranked third with a TBI score of 2.6%. Gaga 100/Mie 100 was in fourth place with a TBI score of 1.7%, followed by Supermi in fifth place with a TBI score of 1.3%.

This index was assessed based on a survey of 8,500 respondents spread across 15 major cities in Indonesia. Respondents consisted of 6,000 random samples, 1,700 booster samples, and 800 B2B booster samples.

Three parameters were used in this assessment. First, Top of Mind, or the first product brand mentioned by respondents. Second, Last Usage, or the last product brand used by respondents.

Third, Future Intention, or the respondents' desire to use that brand's product in the future. The TBI score was then obtained by calculating the weighted average of each parameter.