Luo Yonghao has entered the instant noodle business.

On the evening of August 21, Luo Yonghao, Zhang Chaoyang and others appeared in Master Kong's livestream to endorse a product called "TBT" instant noodles.

Data shows that on Douyin's official Master Kong flagship store, "TBT" instant noodles have sold over 107,000 units, with cumulative sales reaching up to 6.4 million yuan. According to media reports, within the first hour of launch, "TBT" sales had exceeded 71,000 units. However, after the traffic boost ended, "TBT" sales plummeted. By this afternoon, hourly sales had dropped to less than 1,000 units.

Multiple internet celebrities endorsing a single product is uncommon in the "instant noodle industry," reflecting Master Kong's underlying anxiety. According to its 2025 interim report, Master Kong Holdings' revenue growth declined by 2.69%, marking the first decline in five years. In previous years, its growth rate had been consistently slowing.

Against this backdrop, Master Kong's CEO Chen Yingrang's annual salary plunged from 13.032 million yuan to 7.036 million yuan, a 46% decrease, nearly halving his compensation.

Sales "Fizzle Out" After Livestream Ends?

To successfully launch the "TBT" new product livestream debut, Master Kong spared no effort and put on quite a show.

On the 20th, Luo Yonghao posted a teaser announcement on his personal Weibo: "TBT is finally launching! Nine years have passed. What's changed is the track, what hasn't changed is the desire to bring some different innovation to this track."

Many fans curiously commented: "Made for us?" Some, though unsure what it was, still commented "Whatever Luo makes must be good."

But it later proved that this instant noodle wasn't made by Luo himself, but rather he was helping Master Kong sell it.

During the livestream, Luo Yonghao repeatedly mentioned "TBT" instant noodles' features, even associating "TBT" with his previously led "TNT" project (a concept product launched by Smartisan Technology in 2018), commenting that while the two "have no relationship at all," "the similarity is the original intention of wanting to make a good product."

Additionally, Master Kong invited Sohu.com's Zhang Chaoyang to give a "special physics class" in the livestream, explaining knowledge through "TBT's" features.

Under the cross-industry collaboration of Luo Yonghao and Zhang Chaoyang, "TBT's" launch debut achieved impressive results. According to public reports, last evening, within just one hour of launch, "TBT" sales exceeded 71,000 units, with sales revenue exceeding at least 2.8 million yuan. After two hours, the "Luo Yonghao exclusive" noodle combination showed as sold out.

Queries revealed that as of 14:45 on August 22, Douyin's official Master Kong flagship store had sold 107,000 "TBT" units. Based on pricing of 39.9 yuan for 4-cup sets and 59.9 yuan for 6-cup sets, current "TBT" cumulative sales range between 4.2693 million yuan and 6.4093 million yuan.

However, notably, without the fan support of Luo Yonghao and Zhang Chaoyang, "TBT's" sales growth significantly slowed. Statistics show that during the 3 hours and 45 minutes from 11:00-14:45 on the 22nd, TBT only increased by about 3,000 units, less than 1,000 units per hour.

On e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Taobao, only third-party stores are selling "TBT," with the highest selling 200 units, while most others sold only about ten units.

According to Master Kong staff, official platforms like Taobao's Master Kong flagship store are expected to begin selling "TBT" instant noodles in early September.

Instant Noodles Aren't Selling

As the hype from Luo Yonghao, Zhang Chaoyang and others' livestream selling subsides, how "TBT's" sales will change remains unknown. However, in recent years, declining sales for Master Kong and the entire instant noodle market have revealed a harsh reality - fewer and fewer people are buying instant noodles.

Statistics show that since 2021, Master Kong Holdings has experienced declining revenue growth for four consecutive years, falling from around 10% growth four years ago to around 1%, with 2024 growth at only 0.29%, essentially stagnating. According to the recently released Master Kong Holdings 2025 interim report, Master Kong's revenue growth turned negative in the first half of 2025, declining 2.69%, marking the first decline in five years.

Looking at business segments, in the first half of 2025, Master Kong's two core businesses - instant noodles and beverages - both showed declining revenue trends. Instant noodle business revenue was 13.465 billion yuan, down 2.5% year-on-year, accounting for 33.6% of revenue. Beverage business revenue was 26.359 billion yuan, down 2.6% year-on-year, accounting for 65.7% of revenue.

Although first-half net profit attributable to shareholders performed well, increasing 20.46% year-on-year to 2.271 billion yuan, this figure included 211 million yuan in net gains from selling all shares of two subsidiaries. Excluding this portion, net profit performance wasn't outstanding.

In fact, Master Kong's instant noodle business revenue has been continuously shrinking in recent years: from 29.51 billion yuan in 2020 to 28.414 billion yuan in 2024. Looking at specific products, in the first half of this year, Master Kong's cup noodle revenue was 6.771 billion yuan, down 1.3% year-on-year; premium bag noodle revenue was 5.092 billion yuan, down 7.2% year-on-year. The two highest revenue-contributing instant noodle categories both showed significant declines.

Meanwhile, Master Kong's distribution network showed significant reduction. In the first half of 2025, Master Kong had 63,806 distributors, 3,409 fewer than at the end of 2024, and 219,124 direct retailers, 1,499 fewer than at the end of 2024.

Overall, since 2021, Master Kong Holdings' revenue growth has declined year by year. The declining revenue of the instant noodle business has become the core reason dragging down company performance. Additionally, the reduction in distributors and direct retailers also signals the company's prospects.

CEO's Annual Salary Cut by 6 Million

From the broader category perspective, declining instant noodle sales have become fact. Data shows that from 2020 to 2023, instant noodle consumption decreased by 4 billion packages; 2024 consumption further dropped to 43.8 billion packages. Industry calculations suggest that for every 1% expansion in the food delivery market, instant noodle consumption shrinks by 0.0533%.

As consumers have increasingly higher nutritional and health requirements for instant noodles, traditional instant noodles struggle to meet modern consumers' diverse and quality-oriented dietary needs. Master Kong, as a leading enterprise in the instant noodle industry, has naturally become one of the most severely impacted companies.

Worth noting is that under such circumstances, Master Kong's two actual controllers both earned over 9 million yuan annually. According to Master Kong Holdings' 2024 annual report, as of the end of 2024, Master Kong had 11 executives including executive directors, independent directors, and CEO who collectively received 30.958 million yuan in compensation. Among them, actual controllers Wei Hongming and Wei Hongcheng earned 9.719 million yuan and 9.37 million yuan respectively, increases of about 2 million and 1.91 million yuan, with growth rates of 25.9% and 25.6% respectively.

CEO Chen Yingrang's annual salary was 7.036 million yuan, a 46% decrease compared to his previous salary of 13.032 million yuan. Public information shows that Master Kong CEO Chen Yingrang is currently 62 years old and graduated from National Taiwan University's Department of Chemical Engineering. He joined Master Kong in February 2013 as R&D Director.

As company performance declines year by year and his salary begins to decrease, Chen Yingrang, already in his sixties, still faces the new challenge of keeping up with market trends and launching products that truly meet consumer needs.