FEATURED PRODUCT: Lucky Me! Pancit Canton

One particular Filipino household brand has unsurprisingly ridden out the storm that is the pandemic. It has lately set social media buzzing and cheering to express support as Monde Nissin Corp. announced a record-breaking $1.3 billion initial public offering (IPO) in the Philippine stock market. The genius behind the iconic brand Lucky Me! Pancit Canton is banking on Filipinos' unwavering love for the instant noodles product that has been part of the Filipino family for 32 years now. Sure enough, Filipinos on social media have reminisced about their fond memories of Lucky Me! Pancit Canton.

The story of Filipinos' love affair with Lucky Me! Pancit Canton began in 1989. Monde Nissin, the manufacturer of the famous Filipino cracker brand Skyflakes, introduced the first instant dried noodle in a pouch. The packaging contains a block of dried noodles, oil, soy sauce, and seasoning powder. Currently, Lucky Me! Pancit Canton has five flavors: Original, Kalamansi, Extra Hot Chili, Sweet and Spicy, and Chili-Mansi (a portmanteau of chili and calamansi)—the latter being the best-selling flavor. In general, Lucky Me! Pancit Canton has the umami flavor that coats the tongue and rounds out on the salty side. To address health concerns, Lucky Me! Committed to NAPA (No Artificial Preservatives Added) and made the instant dried noodles more nutritious with vitamins and minerals.

Along with these significant improvements, Lucky Me! has become a market leader in the noodle market and built a strong enough brand to unseat Nescafe as the Philippines' top consumed brand. Instant pansit canton has gradually become a versatile food staple that can be served as merienda or even as a viand partnered with white rice. For breakfast, Lucky Me! Pancit Canton can go with a hotdog, ham, fried or boiled egg, tapa (cured beef), and longganisa (sausage). For lunch, a noodle-and-rice combination is an economical and quick meal for those on a budget. Pancit canton is also a favorite midnight snack among Filipino students when pulling all-nighters with a group to review for exams or write their thesis.  

Nevertheless, of course, there are many ways to whip up a Lucky Me! Pancit Canton meal to make it look fancy and more filling. For example, this article from Yummy.ph suggests mixing the instant dried noodles into leftover chop suey or adding melted cheese. Buzzfeed also released a pleasantly surprising long list of how you can upgrade the instant dried noodles with just simple addition of Hunt's pork and beans, canned tuna, or even peanuts (peanut butter is also a welcome experiment).

 Photo from Pepper.ph website.