Check here for the story of the birth of HIYASHI-CHUKA!

Nichirei Foods offers a wide variety of frozen foods for home and commercial use.
In order to respond to ever-changing lifestyles and needs of the moment, Nichirei Foods is engaged in product development and post-sale renewal.

Recently, the timing and location of meals, as well as tastes and menu preferences, have become more diverse, and the eating scene has expanded to include individuals freely eating what they want and what they like to eat. Nichirei Foods has been enhancing its product lineup to meet this growing need for "individual meals" that transcends the boundaries of conventional categories and business categories, which it sees as "personal use demand.
(For more information on frozen food trends, see Part 1: Interview with the Japan Frozen Foods Association! What are the hottest trends?)

Since its launch in March 2022, it has become a hot topic of conversation on social networking sites.

However, product planner Kanizawa, who has been involved with HIYASHI-CHUKA since the pre-launch conception stage, was not satisfied.

Kanizawa has been looking through the feedback received at the Customer Service Center on a daily basis and considering areas for improvement. For the renewal of the product for the spring/summer of 2024, the third year since its launch, a questionnaire survey was conducted as soon as the product went on sale the previous year. We collected candid opinions from approximately 1,000 customers who had purchased the product.

In particular, we received many comments on the cooking quality when heated in a microwave oven, which is one of the key points of HIYASHI-CHUKA.

Nichirei Foods' HIYASHI-CHUKA is a product that offers unprecedented cooking and delicious taste: microwavable cold noodles.

However, depending on the model of microwave oven used, the degree of melting of ice could vary. This led to comments such as "the ice did not melt at all," or conversely, "the ice melted too much, making it hard to cool down, and the noodles got too warm."

We want as many people as possible to enjoy the taste of HIYASHI-CHUKA.
With this in mind, Kanizawa decided to rethink the balance between ice and noodles.

We worked together to renew the product with Nichirei Foods' Yamagata Plant.

For the launch of HIYASHI-CHUKA Nichirei Foods set up a production line for individual servings at its Yamagata Plant. The ice machine was one of the machines installed for HIYASHI-CHUKA.
In renewing the product, Kanizawa worked with the Yamagata Plant's development staff to adjust the balance between ice and noodles to arrive at the optimum amount.

He tasted sample products and provided feedback to the Yamagata factory many times to determine the balance between ice and noodles.

Concurrently with adjusting the ice, Kanizawa was also busy reviewing the ingredients.

”I was surprised to see five different ingredients!"
Every time he received positive feedback, he got motivated.

What kind of ingredient would match and satisfy HIYASHI-CHUKA.... One of the candidates was steamed chicken.

In general, when the fibers of chicken meat are destroyed by heating or freezing, it can be dry.

Nichirei Foods was able to overcome this obstacle thanks to the know-how it has cultivated.

Nichirei Foods has many frozen food products that use chicken. In the course of many years of research for better tasting products, we found a preparation that could reduce the dryness of chicken.

This know-how is utilized in the cooking process of steamed chicken. It was chosen as a new ingredient to replace the crab cakes because they are less dry and more satisfying even after freezing and defrosting.

The "brown" of the braised pork, the "green" of the okra, the "yellow" of the broiled egg, the "red" of the red ginger, and the "white" of the steamed chicken.
The dish became even more colorful.

The sauce, the key to flavor, has also been renewed.
The sauce is a combination of three types of vinegar, which gives the dish a sweet and rich flavor. Although many of our customers expressed satisfaction with the flavor in our customer survey, we also received many requests for a refreshing and clean sour taste.

To add a refreshing taste, we focused on fruit juice.

Ice, ingredients, sauce.... The taste of the 2024 HIYASHI-CHUKA has been improved from various angles.
In fact, it is not only the "content" of the product that has been renewed this time.

Having doubts, Kanizawa consulted with the marketing department in charge of package design. Considering that most products on store shelves have price tags that hide the bottom part of the package, we decided to place the phrase "microwavable and cold," which is the most appealing point of HIYASHI-CHUKA in a large font next to the product name.

Thus, HIYASHI-CHUKA has undergone a major renewal in both content and packaging.
Sales of HIYASHI-CHUKA for the spring/summer 2024 season began on March 1.

In recent years, the number of extremely hot days has been increasing year by year. Demand for HIYASHI-CHUKA is expected to grow further due to the rising temperatures, and the planned number of sales is expected to be 1.2 times that of last year.

Kanizawa shares his thoughts on HIYASHI-CHUKA.

We are committed to providing a surprising and heartwarming dining experience for everyone who picks up a Nichirei Foods product.
Nichirei Foods' challenge continues.

Please take a look at our past articles!