Japan Food Service Journal articles from September 2002

Japan Food Service Journal archives from September 2002

Dining-out sales down 1.5% in FY2001; top 100 businesses listed.
September 25, 2002... The Food Service Industry Research Center reports that sales in the food and drink sector (exclusive of overnight accommodation businesses) declined 1.5% to 26.9 trillion yen in FY2001. The weekly Shukan HoteRes lists the top 100 companies as...

FamilyMart, Japan Asia Airways link for mutual promotion.
September 25, 2002... Convenience store chain FamilyMart is offering new take-out foods with a Taiwanese flair. They include milk tea with black tapioca in it and Chinese-style rice porridge plus 10 other items. The new launch is part of a promotional tie-up with...

Trung Nguyen opens Vietnamese coffee seller in Tokyo.
September 25, 2002... Fashionable Roppongi, Tokyo is the home of the first Trung Nguyen Coffee outlet in Japan. The parent company of the same name has over 400 shops in Vietnam. Young women in Japan have discovered the rich flavor of Vietnamese-style coffee,...

Takashimaya, Sogo among department stores delivering food products in metropolitan areas.
September 25, 2002... The Sogo department store in Yokohama now offers same-day delivery service on food orders worth at least 2000 yen. The service takes a fee of 500 yen (or 300 yen for club members) to deliver to most parts of the city. Other department stores...

Soho's Hospitality Group expanding with tie-ins to famous chefs.
September 25, 2002... Soho's Hospitality Group seeks to expand its business models by engaging famous overseas-based chefs and tying their images to new restaurants. With 19 current stores, the company looks forward to opening new outlets at the rate of about...

Hotels putting focus on sales of take-out foods.
September 25, 2002... Some of Japan's most famous hotels are looking to expand sales by retailing lines of food. The Hotel Okura in Tokyo has set up a take-out corner in its Terrace Restaurant featuring Chinese dishes and salads. Management expects to triple sales...

Chemical residues force Jonathan's shops to remove spinach from menu.
September 25, 2002... Jonathan's has removed spinach from its menu since a testing institute discovered traces of chemical pesticides in the vegetable imported from China. The family restaurant chain and its competitors have begun looking for ways to restore...

Convenience stores, restaurant chains find mutual benefits in tie-ups.
September 25, 2002... Sunkus is among a growing number of convenience stores offering snack foods tied in with restaurant chains. For example, customers can purchase a retort pack of Baltic Curry for 398 yen that tastes like the curry served at restaurants of the...

Hurxley releases boxed meal for children.
September 25, 2002... Hurxley, which operates Hokka Hokka Tei that sells Japanese style takeout meals, has started selling boxed meals for children. Food additives in the product are very limited so it is safer and parents can feel good about serving the product...

Tully's Coffee Japan starts sales through Internet.
September 25, 2002... Tully's Coffee Japan has started selling coffee beans and other products through the Internet. Now the consumer can purchase products even if there are no Tully's Coffee Shops in the area. Available items include coffee beans such as Aged...

Doutor Coffee develops compact coffee shop model.
September 25, 2002... Doutor Coffee has developed a compact type coffee shop model that can fit in smaller spaces. The new model covers 60 square meters (30% less than a regular shop) and can be operated with a staff of two. It uses only disposable cups (plastic...

Sunflex and Foodsnet add more expensive sushi menu to conveyor belt sushi shops.
September 25, 2002... Sunflex, operator of economy-price conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain Osushi no March, has added menu items selling for 200 to 400 yen, as compared to the usual 100 yen. The company uses the same name for the new shops but is making the new...

Dessert Company offers various dessert menus through franchise restaurants.
September 25, 2002... Dessert Company plans to open franchise chain shops to sell more than two hundred kinds of dessert items jointly with major firms. The company works as a broker to sell products of confectionery makers to more than 250 restaurants less adept...

Pietro opens fast food pasta restaurant in Seoul.
September 25, 2002... Pietro has opened directly-managed fast food pasta restaurant Mio Mio in Seoul. The company already has five franchised pasta restaurants in Seoul, but this is the first Mio Mio shop overseas. The company is trying to strengthen its overseas...

Keio Electric Railway opens specialty takeout curry bun shop.
September 25, 2002... Keio Electric Railway has opened the first specialty takeout curry bun shop, Kifujin no Curry, by Keio Sasazuka station. The company plans to open more shops along the Keio Line and have 30 shops in the Tokyo metropolitan area within three...

Oishii World opens inexpensive curry restaurants in Northern Japan.
September 25, 2002... Oishii World is opening inexpensive curry shop Dadaji Curry in three prefectures in Northern Japan. The first shop will be open January 2003 in Sendai City. The company plans to open about ten shops by the end of 2003 in Miyagi, Yamagata and...

First Kitchen cold noodle salad.
September 25, 2002... First Kitchen is selling cold Chinese noodles that are served as a salad. Known as Salad Ryanmen, it uses curly Chinese noodles chilled in ice water, topped with shredded lettuce and dried nori (laver) and seasoned with sauce. It sells for...

Arbos automatic hand disinfection system.
September 25, 2002... The Arbos product development division has created the Jido Shodoku Tearaiki, an automatic system for disinfecting the hands. It has three spouts: one for tap water, one for soap and one for the disinfectant. The sensor turns each one on...

MHS extra-safe disinfectant.
September 25, 2002... MHS has created an alcohol-based disinfectant with exceptional safety. Looking like a spray bottle, the 1.8 liter bottle contains 70% ethyl alcohol for effective sanitizing of hands and kitchen equipment. Moscor also comes in an 18 liter can.

Kyocera puts ceramics know-how into new knives.
September 25, 2002... Kyocera has come out with new ceramic knives called Fine Kitchen, Fine Petit and Fine Fruit. The knives impart no metallic odors, are dishwasher safe and are very clean. The Fine Kitchen sells in black (7000 yen) and white (5000 yen), the...

Kaijirushi creates safer knives in Japanese style.
September 25, 2002... Kaijirushi has created a line of knives that are in the traditional Japanese style but incorporate the advantages of Western knives, such as a design that keeps the base of the blade from protruding from the handle. A special resin using...

Kankyo Forum devices blocks out cell calls.
September 25, 2002... Kankyo Forum vends the Kengaikun II, an electronic device that prevents mobile phone calls from getting through. Persons trying to call a phone located within eight meters of the working devices get a message that the phone is out of range....

Daihan creates portable electric fryer Age Gozen.
September 25, 2002... Daihan sells the Age Gozen portable electric fryer. The system lets restaurants place it where needed, thus saving extensive remodeling work. It runs on a 100V current and has safe automatic temperature control.

Taniguchi Shoyudo Japanese paper for inkjet printing.
September 25, 2002... Taniguchi Shoyudo vends stationery made of traditional Japanese paper designed to work with inkjet printers as well as other printing systems. Available in three colors, it gives a touch of class to menus. A pack of 40 A4sheets for inkjet...

I.Leaf imports premium orange pekoe tea from Sri Lanka.
September 25, 2002... Tea importer I.Leaf offers the Kurugama line of premium orange pekoe teas from Sri Lanka, including Golden Tippy (100g for 1800 yen or 25g for 600 yen), Flowery Long and Flowery Short (100g for 1500 yen or 25g for 500 yen). The teas taste...

Heiwa Food Industry releases new ramen noodle soup products for commercial use.
September 25, 2002... Heiwa Food Industry has released two new ramen noodle soup products for commercial use. Bessen Marushoyu Ramen Soup is a soy sauce-flavored soup base that uses soy sauce made from only selected high quality soybeans. Bessen Marushio Ramen...

Ribbon Foods frozen raspberry cake.
September 25, 2002... Ribbon Foods offers frozen, pre-sliced raspberry cake for commercial use. Using chocolate sponge cake, it adds cream flavored with raspberry juice and also contains the raspberry flesh. It comes in 12 cakes of six pieces, 60g each.

Heinz Japan releases meat sauce and soup products.
September 25, 2002... Heinz Japan has released commercial use chilled cooked products. Marutoku Meat Sauce (150g, 100 yen) is a new item for the Marutoku Meat Sauce Series. Country Harvest Golden Vegetable Soup (500g, 235 yen) is a new item for the Country Harvest...

Sauce product without additives from Bull-Dog.
September 25, 2002... Bull-Dog has released three new commercial use sauces, Bull-Dog High Blend Worcestershire Sauce (rather spicy), Bull-Dog High Blend Tonkatsu Sauce (thick and rather sweet) and Bull-Dog High Blend Chuno Sauce (medium thickness, balance of...

Ajinomoto releases new Japanese soup stock product for commercial use.
September 25, 2002... Ajinomoto has released a new Japanese soup stock product for commercial use, Gyomuyo Honzukuri Ichibandashi Kiwami. The product uses select dried bonito shavings and pure water that is most suitable for high-end soup stock. The product is...

Commercial use Japanese soup stock product from Ajinomoto.
September 25, 2002... Ajinomoto has updated Gyomuyo Ajiwaidashi Wafudashi. The product is a Japanese soup stock targeted at business meal programs, general restaurants, pubs and takeout meal businesses. The updated product has improved katsuo ichibandashi (bonito...

Ajinomoto releases bouillon product without beef ingredients.
September 25, 2002... Ajinomoto has released Gyomuyo Ajinomoto KK Consomme, a commercial use bouillon product that does not use any beef ingredients. The items are Gyomuyo Ajinomoto KK Chomiryo Consomme Dx (seasoning for dishes such as stew and stir-fry) and...

Commercial use spicy basil sauce from Ajimonoto.
September 25, 2002... Ajinomoto has released Gyomuyo Knorr Sauce Free Arrange Spicy Basil, a sauce product made with fresh extra virgin olive oil, garlic granules, basil and anchovy. The product can be used to give more taste to the ordinary dishes and it is...

Taiyo Foods Uses Power of Wasabi to Keep Bacteria at Bay.
September 25, 2002... Obento wo Nagamochisaseru Otsukemono, a new type of Japanese-style pickles from Taiyo Foods, has the ability to extend the shelf life of packaged bento-style lunch boxes. The company utilizes an ingredient in wasabi (Japanese horseradish) to...

Moisture-Tolerant Agar Film Created.
September 25, 2002... A collaborative effort between Ina Shokuhin and a Nagano Prefecture food industry testing center has resulted in a new agar film that better withstands water and humidity. Agar film, which melts upon contact with boiling water, is user in...

Super-Heated-Steam Oven for Better Cooking Performance.
September 25, 2002... Nakanishi Mfg. has launched an industry-first cooking system using super-heated steam. The system heats steam to 230 degrees C. Above 180 degrees C, the water vapor releases some of its oxygen and cooks better. The steam envelopes food...

Bamboo Component Keeps Fish Fresh.
September 25, 2002... Takex Techno says that its new product, Take ("Bamboo") Lignan 303, can help food producers treat fresh fish to resist microbes, odors and oxidation. Currently many potential customers treat fresh fish by dipping it into very cold salty...

Mill Crushes Fibrous Foods with Even Results.
September 25, 2002... Nisshin Engineering has launched the Blade Mill for converting even highly fibrous foods and other materials into powder. The pulverizer works with a high-speed blade and fixed liner, which together create a powerful whirlpool of air. The...

Seasoning Made from Onions.
September 25, 2002... A Hokkaido based organisation operating as part of the Sapporo Commercial Council has developed a "Functional" seasoning product made from onions. When the C-S lyase enzyme naturally present in onions is activated, it produces a...

Meat Tenderizing Process.
September 25, 2002... Hanamasa has developed a new form of technology to soften collagen, the main constituent of meat. The process will enable the meat from older animals to be used in a much wider variety of food products. Meat treated with the process is...

Shark Meat Beer Snack.
September 25, 2002... The Chiba Prefecture based Marine Research Centre has developed a process that enables shark meat to be used as a jerky like snack food. The process involves running the meat through fresh water and the addition of miso (Fermented bean...

Cooking Oil Life Extending Ceramic Ball.
September 25, 2002... Mitsubishi Shoji in conjunction with the environmental device manufacturing company Eagle Japan has released "Fine Oil Activator" a device that uses a ball shaped ceramic filter to significantly extend the life of used cooking oil. The...

Polyphenol Measurfng Device.
September 25, 2002... Toyobo has developed the "PA-20" a device that utilizes a flow through system and enzymes to measure the polyphenol content in food products. The device uses peroxidase enzymes and hydrogen peroxide fixed in a sheet that is placed into a...

Blood Pressure Reducing Korean Spicy Pickle.
September 25, 2002... The health food developer "Farmer Foods" has announced the development of a Korean style spicy pickle "Kimchi" containing a 20 fold increase in substances known to reduce blood pressure through the use of special lactic acid bacteria. ...

Blood Pressure Reducing Tofu.
September 25, 2002... The Niigata Prefecture Central Research Laboratory has announced the development of a tofu product with blood pressure reducing properties 70% higher than that of conventional tofu. The new tofu contains a 70% increase in the amount of...

Shiga Prefecture Chagyo Shidosho Makes Black Tea from Green Tea Leaves.
September 25, 2002... The Shiga Prefecture Nogyo Sogo Center Chagyo Shidosho has developed technology for making black tea with green tea leaves and equipment already in place for making green tea. The result is Shiga no Kocha, which is being sold on a trial basis...

Snow Brand Milk Products, Meikai University Discover Proteins in Milk that Promote Bone Formation.
September 25, 2002... Snow Brand Milk Products and Meikai University have discovered three tiny proteins - kininogen fragment, HMG-like protein and cystatin - in milk that show the ability to promote bone formation. A beverage containing a 40g combination of...

Kagome Clarifies Reaction in Body that Uses Barley Tea to Promote Blood Flow.
September 25, 2002... Kagome has discovered that the aroma of barley being roasted improves blood flow, thanks to a type of pyrazine in the aroma that suppresses platelet cohesion and hinders clotting. This knowledge could be used to prevent arteriosclerosis and...

Q'SAI, Yamaguchi Prefectural University Find Immunity Activation in Aojiru Green Soup.
September 25, 2002... Q'SAI, known for aojiru (green soup or green juice), has confirmed that kale, a primary ingredient in the company's aojiru beverage, activates immunity. Based on this finding, the company thinks kale could help to stop the spread of cancer...