(2) The 19th International Food Ingredients & Additives Exhibition and Conference (ifia Japan 2014) / The 12th Health Food Exposition & Conference (HFE Japan 2014) 【②第19回国際食品素材/添加物展・会議／第12回ヘルスフードエキスポ】

Products using powdered miso

Kanesa's "Pala-Miso"

One of the companies that caught our attention at the Health Food Exposition & Conference (HFE Japan 2014) is a miso company called Kanesa.

Kanesa is a miso (soy bean paste) manufacturing company with a long corporate history of 130 years. They have developed a miso powder product called "Pala-Miso" that comes in different types: red miso, white miso, and organic. Each type of miso paste is processed into powder form (refer to photo below). Kanesa's booth attracted visitors with samples such as miso cookie, miso bread, and miso flavored fried rice that used Pala-Miso. These samples did not have a strong miso flavor, but the miso powder added depth and slight saltiness. 

"Pala-Miso" (powdered miso)

Kanesa has developed a way to manufacture powdered miso 30 years ago and their canned miso soup powder has been their best seller. Recently, the demands for these miso powders are getting higher. In order to meet the needs of increasing double-income households and growing demands for instant foods, Kanesa is developing and selling new products using miso powder other than miso soup. They began selling their products overseas from this March. 

Although miso soup was not very popular outside of Japan 20 years ago, more foreigners are enjoying it nowadays from the spread of Japanese food restaurants abroad. In March, Kanesa participated in the Natural Products Expo in the United States and they are now beginning to sell at Gelson's and Bristol Farms located on the west coast. The miso powder products they are currently selling in the US are not made for miso soup. Kanesa has developed a new recipe for the US market and the powder can used as salad toppings or be mixed with olive oil. Although Japanese food is more accepted than before, not everyone likes the fish based soup that is used in miso soup. Instead, Kanesa uses mushroom and kelp soup as a base for their miso soup powder. 

Recently, Japanese traditional cuisine, "washoku" was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage. We hope this will become an opportunity for vitalization of the Japanese food market.

Company Website: http://www.kanesa.co.jp/english/

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

顆粒味噌を使用した商品各種

かねさ(株)の「パラミソ」

食品素材・添加物展にて、ふと目を引いた企業があったのでご紹介したい。

かねさ(株)、創業130年の味噌製造の老舗である。この企業の今回の主な展示物が、「パラミソ」という名の顆粒みそ。赤みそ・白みそ・無添加など各種味噌がパラパラの顆粒状態に加工され、味噌風に盛り上げられている。ブースではそれらを用いた「みそクッキー」や「みそパン」、「みそ炒飯」などの試食品が並んでおり、来場者の関心を引いていた。実際に食してみると、香ばしい風味が目立つが、言われなければ「味噌」とは気づかない。出展者の方に少し話を聞いてみた。

「パラミソ」（顆粒味噌）

かねさ(株)では30年前から味噌を顆粒にする技術は有しており、缶入りの粉末味噌汁の素などは自社のロングセラー商品である。ただし、実際に需要が高まってきたのはここ近年。共働き世帯の増加に伴うインスタント食品需要に対応すべく、味噌汁の種類も数多く展開、味噌汁にとどまらず味噌を用いた様々な製品を開発、販売して好評を得ている。今年3月から海外でも展開を開始。20年前は味噌汁に対する外国人の抵抗感は非常に根強く、顔をしかめる人も多かったが、海外の日本食レストランの数が多くなり、外国人が日本食に親しむ機会が増えたことの影響は大きい。3月に北米のNatural Products Expoという展示会にパラミソを出展したところバイヤーが付き、現在は北米西海岸を中心に、ゲルソンズやブリストルファームなどの店舗で販売を開始して様子を見ているところ。使用方法としては、海外では味噌汁は提案していない。サラダに振り掛けてオリーブオイルで和えるなど、現地の食に適応したレシピを提案している。和食が受け入れられたとは言っても、魚の臭みが出る鰹だしは好き嫌いが出やすいため、昆布だしや椎茸だしと併せて打ち出している。和食が無形文化遺産に登録されたこともあり、これからの展開に期待したい。

企業HP：http://www.kanesa.co.jp

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊