Part2 A restaurant where you can experience the future of frozen foods What is "Terrace Nichirei," which has been revived after 55 years?

Nichirei (then Nippon Reizo) opened the "Terrace Nichirei" frozen food restaurant at the 1970 Osaka Expo, and at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, Nichirei Foods is opening the restaurant for the first time in 55 years.

In this issue, we will unravel the thoughts behind the menu offered at “Terrace Nichirei”, which has been well received by many customers since the opening of the restaurant, and our commitment to its development.

check out [Part 1: Playback to 1970! Nichirei's challenge　Leading to a Revolution in the Food Service Industry] , which trace the background of the opening of Terrace Nichirei at the 1970 Osaka Expo and what happened afterward.

Part1 Playback to 1970! Nichirei's Challenge Leading to a Revolution in the Food Service Industry

At the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, Nichirei Foods is opening a restaurant, Terrace Nichirei, in the "EARTH TABLE - Future Diner" area. This is the second time Nichirei has opened a restaurant at the Expo. The first was at the 1970 Osaka Expo. Frozen foods are now common for many people. At the time, however, they were still not very familiar to most. Why did Nichirei (then Nippon Reizo) open a restaurant using frozen foods at such a time? Let us take a look back at its path, along with the historical background of the time.

Nichirei Foods wants to share its vision for new possibilities for frozen foods

The restaurant "Terrace Nichirei" opened by Nichirei (then Nippon Reizo) at the 1970 Osaka Expo was well received by many customers for its ability to quickly and stably serve large quantities of delicious food by reheating frozen foods for commercial use when customers arrived.

And at this year's Osaka-Kansai Expo, the restaurant "Terrace Nichirei" has been revived for the first time in 55 years.
Harayama, who is in charge of the Expo at Nichirei Foods, shares the thought behind its revival.

Nichirei Foods
Line & Marketing
Strategy Department Marketing Department
Marketing Group
Manager
Manager of Terrace Nichirei Store

Takateru Harayama

Harayama

The theme of the Osaka-Kansai Expo is "Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” Under this theme, we hope to convey Nichirei Foods' vision of frozen foods of the future, creating opportunities for people to feel that “Terrace Nichirei raised the status of frozen foods to a higher level” in the coming years and decades. This is what we hope to achieve by opening this restaurant.

Terrace Nichirei is in the "EARTH TABLE - Future Diner.” This is a restaurant building where visitors can experience the future of food, adjacent to the "Forest of Tranquility," a lush green space in the central area of the Expo site.

What exactly is the future of frozen foods brought to you by “Terrace Nichirei,” which has been opened in such an area? Let us unravel its contents.

“Special Fried Rice" that takes only a few minutes from cooking to serving! Expected to contribute to labor shortages in restaurants

Fried rice with juicy roast pork, large shrimp, egg, and a secret flavor of scallops. What a surprise! It only takes a few minutes to bring you the crispy texture and aroma of this dish.

Using "premium ingredients" for shrimp, handled by Nichirei Fresh, a group company

In fact, these are not heated in a microwave oven like household-use prepared frozen foods. So how on earth do we serve them in just a few minutes? The answer can be found in automatic stir-fry cooking using TechMagic's latest stir-fry robot, “I-Robo2”.

Harayama

“Special Fried Rice" is made by thoroughly stir-frying fried rice prepared at the Nichirei Foods factory with ingredients in an automatic stir-fryer at the end of the cooking process to ensure delicious taste.

In addition, conditions such as the frozen fried rice formula, temperature of the automatic stir-fry machine, stir-fry time, and timing of seasoning are also programmed uniquely for the "Special Fried Rice" offered at “Terrace Nichirei”.

By combining the best aspects of both frozen fried rice, which is quick-frozen and kept in top condition, and a robot that can maintain homogeneity of cooking, anyone can make delicious fried rice of consistent quality anytime, anywhere. We believe that these will help solve the labor shortage in restaurants.

“Special Fried Rice" combines the best aspects of frozen ingredients and cooking robots to solve the labor shortage in restaurants.
Harayama says that through this "Special Fried Rice”, he hopes people will experience Nichirei's true spirit.

Harayama

Nichirei, the fried rice specialist that makes that long-selling product "HONKAKUITAME-CHAHAN (fried rice)", has seriously created "Special Fried Rice". We want you to experience Nichirei's commitment to making absolutely delicious products. We made this dish with this in mind. Some of our customers are surprised at the high level of quality after taking a bite.

Beat the severe heat with cool sweets. Frozen but soft,“Cold Imagawa-yaki (classical round-shaped Japanese snack) that can be eaten frozen”

One of the hot topics of discussion at the Osaka-Kansai Expo is how to deal with the heat.
With global warming and the heat island effect becoming more serious, free water supply spots, shade and rest areas, and spot coolers have been installed in the venue.

Nichirei Foods has taken on the challenge of a new approach to help people easily beat the heat. This is the “Cold Imagawa-yaki (classical round-shaped Japanese snack), that can be eaten frozen.”

At first glance, this product looks like the familiar Imagawa-yaki. In fact, it can be enjoyed frozen like ice cream without microwave cooking or natural defrosting.

Furthermore, one of the characteristics of this product is its Japanese flavor, with azuki bean paste wrapped in dough made from Kyoto Uji matcha green tea. Frozen "Imagawa-yaki" sold in supermarkets are so hard that you cannot bite them right after taking them out of the freezer. In the case of "Cold Imagawa-yaki (classical round-shaped Japanese snack), that can be eaten frozen," however, the moist and soft texture is achieved even when frozen by devising the moisture and sugar content of the dough.

Harayama

Frozen food is often thought of as something you heat up in a microwave oven, but we invite you to taste the moist and soft texture of frozen food at the venue.

Sustainable "Acerola Mix Smoothie" made from a whole fruit

Nichirei Foods is also known for its acerola.

Acerola contains a lot of antioxidants such as vitamin C to protect itself from the harsh environment of high temperature and strong ultraviolet rays. On the other hand, it is difficult to control its quality and usually stays fresh only 2 to 3 days after harvest. Nichirei Foods uses freezing technology to import acerola without compromising its rich vitamin C content.

With the idea of “using every part of this superfruit, acerola,” we created the "Acerola Mix Smoothie," which contains not only the pulp, but also the seeds and peel.

Harayama

The "Acerola Mix Smoothie" uses the pulp, peel, and seeds of the fruit, providing you with all the nutrients of the whole acerola fruit. In addition, since the entire fruit is used, the drink is environmentally and health conscious, aiming to reduce food loss. In fact, it is a delicious and sustainable smoothie that contains not only the acerola, but also parts of broccoli stems, which are not easily consumed.

Expanding the possibilities of frozen foods to enrich our customers' lives

“Special Fried Rice" contributes to the labor shortage in restaurants by cooking in an automatic stir-fry machine.
“Cold Imagawa-yaki (classical round-shaped Japanese snack), that can be eaten frozen," is appreciated as a way to beat the severe summer heat.
“Acerola Mix Smoothie" contributes to the reduction of food loss by using whole fruits.

These menu items, which contribute to solving future problems, are also delicious and well received by customers.

Harayama

One of the customers who visited Terrace Nichirei said, "Frozen food has come this far!” We will continue to develop products that exceed the expectations of our customers. We want to create a future where consumers can choose what they want to eat from a wider variety of menus with more time to spare and realize a more affluent lifestyle.

On the walls of the store, you can learn about the history of frozen foods.

In Part 3: Nichirei Foods’ Vision for the Future of Frozen Foods (tentative title) (to be released in September), we will introduce “Evolving Frozen Foods,” a project supported by Nichirei Foods at the EARTH MART pavilion produced by Kundo Koyama.

Part1 Playback to 1970! Nichirei's Challenge Leading to a Revolution in the Food Service Industry

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