On August 25, 1958, at the age of 48, and after months of trial and error experimentation, Ando announced that he had finally perfected his flash-frying method and therefore invented the instant noodle. Called Chikin Ramen, after the original flavour, it was originally considered a luxury food item as it cost around six times that of traditional non-instant udon and soba noodles. Ando began sales of the Cup noodles on September 18, 1971. As prices dropped, ramen soon became a booming business. An estimated 70 billion servings were sold in 2004.