MegMilk Snow Brand's flagship probiotic yogurt is Megumi and contains both a L. gasseri strain as well as a bifidobacteria strain. L. gasseri SP (or SBT 2055) is human (Japanese) derived and has been shown to persist in the human digestive tract far longer than other probiotic strains. In fact, they say it is the first of its kind in the world. The bifidobacteria is a proprietary strain. ガセリ菌SP株 ビフィズス菌SP株 雪印メグミルク
http://www.meg-snow.com/products/yogurt/7f5ae.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
MegMilk Snow Brand uses Pokemon characters for its series of children's dairy drinks. The flavors are strawberry, coffee, fruit, and yogurt. As mentioned yesterday, coffee is a flavor popular with all age groups in Japan.
http://www.meg-snow.com/pokemon/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
In Japan, coffee flavored milk is as popular as chocolate milk in other countries, and appeals to young people and adults alike. The pioneer product in this category was Snow Brand Coffee which was introduced in 1963. The company is now MegMilk Snow Brand. 雪印コーヒー 雪印メグミルク
http://www.meg-snow.com/yuki-coffee/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Lotteria is offering a honey mustard grilled chicken burger which promises to be sweet and spicy. As with MOS Burger's grilled chicken sandwiches, this appears to be a whole piece and include the skin. ロッテリア ハニーマスタード グリルチキンバーガー
http://www.lotteria.jp/topics/2014/topics02060002.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
MOS Burger has introduced grilled chicken burgers featuring whole pieces of chicken, grilled with the skin. These come in two varieties: teriyaki flavor and spicy miso flavor (a mixture of 3 different miso seasonings). モスバーガー
http://www.mos.co.jp/index.php
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
The Pretzel Burger that was a hit in the US last year, but has since been discontinued will now make a run in Japan, albeit only in 3 outlets. Wendy's and a number of other chains jumped on a pretzel burger (the bun is made out of soft pretzel dough) bandwagon last year. When the boom faded, many gave up on the special buns. Marketing analysis warned that Wendy's US was overly depending on flashy offerings, at the expense of tried and true menu items. In Japan, many of the chains are offering money losing ultra cheap menus, which they have to bankroll by selling premium burgers.
http://wendys.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
McDonald's will enter the final phase of its American Vintage promotion tomorrow with 1980's themed Funky BBQ sandwiches. They explain that from the numerous varieties of BBQ in the US, they have chosen one with a special smoked flavor (from birch and cloves) and 10 spices and herbs. The Funky BBQ Chicken version has chedder cheese and lettuce. The Funky BBQ Beef version goes on to add a slab of bacon. The calorie counts have not been posted yet, but the previous sandwiches were 480 and 530 calories each. The added slab of bacon might bump that up a bit.
http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/campaign/americanvintage/index.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Lotte and 7-Eleven have collaborated on the development of ganache covered chocolate ice cream as part of 7-Eleven's premium gold series of products. They are shaped similarly to the mochi covered ice covered ice cream. There is an announcement on 7-Eleven's website claiming that over 3.7 million packages of this product have been sold in only 2 months. チョコ ロッテ
http://www.sej.co.jp/products/7gold1105.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Glico and 7-Eleven have collaborated on the development of a special Pocky with extra rich, melty chocolate which is only available at 7-Eleven. This product uses specially selected cocoa powder from the Netherlands and milk powder from Finland.
http://www.sej.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Olympic World Sponsors obvious include but are not specific to Japan. Not surprisingly, no Japanese food companies are among the world sponsors. The only food companies are US based: McDonald's, P&G, and Coca Cola. More interesting to me though is the fact that there is only one Japanese company, Panasonic. I suppose Panasonic sponsorship would exclude the other Japanese electronics companies, but if I were head of sponsorships, I would certainly want a major automobile company like Toyota on board.
http://www.joc.or.jp/about/partners/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
