Asahi Beer shot to number one in Japan on the back of Asahi Super Dry beer which was introduced in 1987. They have been riding the popularity of that beer for almost 3 decades now. In recent years, they have been pushing Dry Black as a new type of beer or an alternative to standard black or stout beers. They explain that the Dry Black has a more clear and less complicated taste. While many people drink stout beers exactly for that reason, Asahi is trying to show how this clear taste can be used in new ways.
Super Dry Black Bar Style promotes starting with a glass of ice, adding Asahi Super Dry Black and topping it off with a slice of citrus and mint.
The suggested variations are as follows:
Lemon Black
Lime Black
Orange Black
Sudachi Black (sudachi is a Japanese citrus fruit)
Pink Grapefruit Black
as well as non-citrus variations
Wilkinson Shandy Black (a shandy made with Wilkinson carbonated soda also sold by Asahi)
Double Cultured Black (with added Calpis, an Asahi subsidiary)
Cafe Black (with coffee)
Cinnamon Black
Almond Black
Certainly something new to try at least once, but oddly, I don't see it on the menu of the Asahi beer hall in Tokyo.
Key Words: Asashi Super Dry, Dry Black, Bar Style スーパードライ ドライブラック バースタイル
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/dryblack/barstyle/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Tractability and ingredient sourcing have become concerns worldwide. In Japan, incidents involving imported ingredients have been the main cause for increased consumer attention. Burger King Japan has posted a chart of the origin and processing locations for all their ingredients and components. Here I give the translation of the first half of the chart. The processing location is in parentheses.
Whopper Patty AU, NZ (AU)
Burger Patty AU, NZ (AU)
Chicken Patty TH (TH) TH = Thailand
Snack Chicken JP, BR (JP) BR = Brazil
Fish Patty US, RU (TH)
Pork Patty US (US)
SPAM US (US)
Hot Dog Sausage US, CA, JP (JP)
Bacon US (US)
Bologna Sausage US, CA, AU (JP)
Roast Pork US, CA (JP)
Buns US, CA (JP)
Tomato US, KR, JP KR = Korea
Onion JP, US (JP)
Lettuce JP, US, TW (JP) TW = Taiwan
Salad JP, US, TW (JP) TW = Taiwan
Avocado PE (PE) PE = Peru
Pickles LK (JP) LK = Sri Lanka
Lemon US
I will summarize the second half in a few days, but just looking at the distance traveled of the ingredients of a fast food meal is certainly interesting.
Here is a link to the list (PDF)
http://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp/menu/pdf/origin.pdf
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Burger King Japan is offering Double King (TM) sets which center on pork patty burgers which something added to make it a filling meal. One addition has just been made so there are 4 options:
1) Double BBQ - two pork patties, fresh vegetables, smokey BBQ sauce
2) Hash & Cheese - pork patty, hash brown patty, cheese, pepper Caesar sauce
3) Monster Baby (TM) - pork patty, spicy hot chicken patty, fresh vegetables, teriyaki sauce
and a one new offering that does not have a pork patty
4) Double Chicken with Tartar - two chicken patties, fresh vegetables, tartar sauce.
These items are 390 yen alone, or 490 yen as a set (drink and fries). All fast food chains push have been pushing limited offerings and sets as a counter to the obligatory cheap menu items that get people in the door.
Key Words: Burger King, Double King, バーガーキング ダブルバーベキュー ハッシュ＆チーズ モンスターベビー ダブルタルタル
http://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Although I do not see this being advertised anywhere, when I went to a Lotteria in Ginza recently, they had Kobe Beef burgers for sale. There was a rotating series of Japanese regional beef burgers at Lotteria from 2014 to 2015, but not only is this not noted anywhere on the website, but it is a bit more reasonable than the Kobe Beef burger 2 years ago. It was 1,500 yen/ burger two years ago, but is "only" 1,000 yen now. Of course the question remains, why take a luxury premium beef and grind it up as hamburger meat. It is definately an interesting promotion though.
Key words; Lotteria, Kobe beef, ロッテリア 神戸牛
This variation on the 130 year old Philadelphia cheese brand was developed in Japan. Morinaga has worked to produce a cream cheese which creamy, yet melts at a higher temperature making it viable as a sliced cheese variety. Their solution was to create 3-layer cheese slices where Philadelphia cream cheese is sandwiched between cheddar cheese slices (the same as regular Kraft slices). The resulting combination is twice as thick as regular slices. At 4 combined slices per pack, that roughly equals in thickness (and I assume weight) the standard 8 regular slice packs.
This is being described as luxurious alternative to standard sliced cheese and Japan's first three layer cheese slices.
Key Words: Morinaga, Philadelphia cream cheese, Kraft, cheddar cheese 森永, フィラデルフィア クラフト チェダー
https://www.morinagamilk.co.jp/corporate/release/2016/0829_3007.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
As can be seen in this photo from a recent night eating with coworkers, it is not uncommon to have fried fish bones be served as part of a tempura set. In fact, fried eel bones are something of a special item. The bones become brittle and crispy when fried and the addition of a little salt makes them quite good.
However, despite eating many small fish whole and frying the bones of larger fish, the traditional Japanese diet does not contain adequate amounts of calcium, which is why the Japan Dairy Association is promoting the combination of dairy with the traditional Japanese diet in a program called New Washoku, where "nyu" or "new" can be written as dairy in Japanese and "washoku" means Japanese cuisine.
てんぷら 乳和食
Details of what will happen to storefronts following the merger anouncement of Japan's 3rd and 4th largest convenience store chains. Since convenience stores are everywhere in Japan and since getting into convenience stores is very important for food brands, this is big news.
Rankings before the merger by store count:
7-Eleven 18,860
Lawson 12,537
FamilyMart 11,872
Circle K-Sunkus 6,251
Following merger
7-Eleven 18,860
FamilyMart (Circle K-Sunkus) 18,123
Lawson 12,537
However 1,000 of the Circle K-Sunkus stores will be closed or will be moved, due to business conditions or proximity to FamilyMart stores.
The final goal of the reorganization is to have all the stores branded as FamilyMart by February of 2019.
My thoughts: It will be sad to see Circle K-Sunkus go. As the 4th place player, they have always worked to provide very different selections and new ideas to compete with the big guys. Three dominant chains provides a degree of competition, but you can already see the selection at 7-Eleven becoming very predictable if not boring.
http://www.family.co.jp/
As one of its home delivery offerings, Morinaga has introduced a functional drink aimed at joint health and general health in the middle age and older consumer category. Uruou Glucosamine Drink うるおうグルコサミン. Uruou 潤う・うるおう means wet or moist, but can also convey the meaning smooth as in smooth joint movement. It also contains the meaning, "to benefit from", therefore it pops up in product names and copy from time to time.
The copy for the product states "for everyday movement, walking and health (power) support". Morinaga provides this in the form of a yogurt flavored drink including 4 functional ingredients. These are the following:
1) glucosamine (1,500 mg) - an amino-sugar or aminoglucoside are naturally occurring in the body, but for supplementation are derived from crustaceans and shellfish. It is found in bone, cartilage and joint fluid. The idea is that glucosamines which have been broken down and are easily taken in by the body help in forming new cartilage and in supporting joint health. As I understand it the jury is still out on the effectiveness of glucosamine.
2) collagen (1,000 mg) - collagen if found in cartilage, skin and connective tissue. Low molecular weight collagen (easy to absorb) is very popular in Japan for perceived beauty and health benefits. Collagen is a major component of cartilage and therefore the reasoning is similar to the above. Once again, research is ongoing but the appeal is clear.
3) hyaluronic acid (5 mg) - another component of healthy skin, cartilage and joints. Therefore ditto on all of the above. Both collagen and hyaluronic acid are found in body tissue that requires adequate fluid content and elasticity, thus both skin and joint tissue.
and
4) Shield Lactic Acid Bacteria M-1 - this is a probiotic strain developed by Morinaga which has high heat resistance and boasts improved immune function in test subjects. This effect is not joint related, but instead targets the same audience - people who are aging and suffering joint problems are probably also increasing concerned about immune function (ability to resist infection, colds, the flu, etc.).
In summary, this product throws in several components of healthy joints with the assumption that they will be used by the body to maintain healthy joints, and then adds in a proprietary probiotic for general health maintenance.
The appeal of this type of product is obvious, it checks a lot of boxes and is readily understandable for people in the market for such ingredients. It is also delivered to the door several times a week. The added benefit for companies is that no new scientific data needs to be generated.
Key words: Morinaga, home delivery, glucosamine, collagen, hyaluronic acid, Shield Lactic Acid Bacteria M-1, probiotic, Japan, 森永 宅配 グルコサミン コラーゲン ヒアルロン酸 シールド乳酸菌M-1プロバイオティクス
http://takuhaimilk.ne.jp/products/uruou/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
MegMilk Snow Brand is celebrating 40 years of its Cream Sweets line. As can be seen from this timeline, the formulation has been tinkered with over the years and the shape of the packaging has changed, but it is still basically coffee jelly with cream on top. Along the way they did introduce a Japanese-style pudding, what looks to be cream on sweet jelly and a few brand crossovers. However, this brand and series is most closely associated with cream and coffee jelly.
I know Japanese who make big batches of coffee jelly at home claiming that it helps keep one regular. I have seen this noted several places, but I know of no real evidence for this.
Nov. 22nd will be Cream Sweets day and lots of communications and information will be made available on the website.
http://www.cream-sweets.com/
Key Words: MegMilk Snow Brand, Coffee Jelly, Cream Sweets 雪印メグミルク コピーゼリー クリームスイーツ
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Meiji and Sanrio (the Hello Kitty company) are collaborating on a campaign where Sanrio characters appear on various chocolate and confectionery products, and there is a daily giveaway of Sanrio branded goods via the internet. Not a big follower of Sanrio, but this promotion focuses on four groups of Sanrio characters: Shingancrimson, Plasmagica Yogulemons, and Maple Beat Punch. The first two of these are anime bands that actually appear on TV and release singles and the second two are anime bands formed from members of the Sanrio character stable. Just to be clear, these are animated singing groups created and I assume owned by Sanrio. It is easy to look up the current group of cute young girls who actually do the singing, but I assume they can be rotated in and out as necessary. As you might know, Japan pioneered the concept of completely animated pop groups starting with Hatsune Miku in 2007.
For this campaign, purchase does not appear to be necessary. People can submit entries up to once a day to be eligible for the daily prizes which consist of Sanrio anime band branded QUO digital money cards and waterproof smartphone neck straps.
Key Words: Meiji, Sanrio, Shingancrimsonz, Plasmagica, Yogulemons, Maple Beat Punch, Hatsune Miku, Japan, chocolate, confectionery 明治 サンリオ プラズマジカ シンガンクリムゾンズ ヨーグレモンズ メープルビートパンチ 日本 チョコ 菓子 初音ミク
http://www.meiji.co.jp/sweets/okashi-land/cmp/sanrio_1607/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
