Ms. Ai Watanabe developed “heated sushi” that even pregnant women can eat, and started selling it online.
Scallops, squid, blackthroat sea urchin, salmon…
The appearance of sushi looks gorgeous, but it is actually “heated sushi” made by heating the ingredients.
It is a product developed for pregnant women who need to be careful about eating raw food because their immune system is weakened, and online sales will begin on November 22, 2022.
It was developed by Ai Watanabe (31), who is also the mother of a one-year-old child.Watanabe was originally an employee of Nissin Foods, a major food manufacturer, but decided to quit the company and start a business to commercialize heated sushi.
Why is Mr. Watanabe so particular about “heated sushi”?
You can also watch the video about the taste of heated sushi and an interview with Mr. Watanabe.
“For my mother who couldn’t eat sushi after surgery”
A total of 9 pieces per serving, including shrimp, sea urchin, sea urchin, and squid. It is sushi for “special days” in a paulownia box, and the price is 6,900 yen including tax.
Watanabe got the idea for heated sushi when she was pregnant with her first child.
During pregnancy, the immune system is weakened and the risk of food poisoning increases, so doctors may advise you to refrain from eating raw foods. Watanabe himself is said to have been strongly prohibited by his doctor.
After giving birth in May 2021, he started developing heated sushi by himself from his experience that restricting all foods and activities would lead to great stress for pregnant women.
Starting with the search for sushi chefs and ingredients to cooperate with, and after verification of heating methods and safety, the first heated sushi will be completed in the winter of 2021.Send sushi to purchaserWhen crowdfunding was implemented, 249 people supported.Collected 2.2 million yen, more than 10 times the target amountThe first heated sushi was a success.
Crowdfunding collected donations from 249 people.
After the crowdfunding, I hadn’t decided yet whether I would continue with the heated sushi business, or if I would end it with just one project.
However, Watanabe’s heart was moved by an email from a woman who ate heated sushi through crowdfunding.
“I received a call from a woman who gave a gift of heated sushi to her mother, who was unable to eat her favorite food after a bone marrow transplant. Her mother passed away the other day.”I couldn’t show my filial piety due to restrictions on visitation due to Corona, but at the end I was able to eat sushi and see a smile.”He said.
If heated sushi can be so useful, I’ve come to think that I want to continue.”
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What big companies can’t do
Mr. Watanabe held a briefing session for the media. The venue is “Yayoi Sushi” (Morishita, Koto Ward), where they have cooperated in making heated sushi in the past.
However, although I had a strong desire to continue cooking heated sushi, at the same time,I felt that it would be impossible for me to continue working at Nissin Foods if I continued to make heated sushi.
“It’s hard to balance work and childcare. If my child has a fever, I can’t sleep all night, and if I catch a viral illness, I have to take days off from work. In addition, if there is a new business, there will be more uncertainties.”
Should I stay at a big company or start a business?
Having a baby was the catalyst for my decision.
“Since having a child, I have even less time for myself. So I started to think seriously that I want to use the time that I have available to deliver something of value to the world.”
Mr. Watanabe, who is busy with child-rearing that he is not used to,”Maybe the important thing is how much you can make people in trouble smile while making use of your own experience.”I noticed.
“Large companies often have to think about the return on investment from a mass perspective.In that case, it would be difficult to create a product for a limited target such as “pregnant women who avoid raw foods”. In order to avoid risks, it is often necessary to have precedents from other companies.”
There is no guarantee that the heated sushi business will get off the ground, but I chose a path that only I can take.
“If I don’t continue eating heated sushi, people who are in trouble now will have no choice but to endure it. I decided to challenge myself to leave a value in the world that would disappear depending on my choice.”
Taste and appearance are “Non-negotiable”
Heated sushi is frozen and mailed. Heat it in the microwave before eating and let it sit for a few minutes before eating.
However, the development of new heated sushi was once again a succession of difficulties.
Among the opinions received through crowdfunding, there were many positive voices saying, “It was delicious even frozen.”Some said, “The rice was dry.”
What should be done to produce with stable quality?
We reexamined all the methods from the beginning, from selection and purchase of toppings, heating method, gripping method, packing, freezing, and mailing.AlsoThe new heated sushi is not the pressed sushi like the last time, but the challenge of “nigiri sushi”did.
In addition to pursuing delicious sushi rice by freezing it after heating and thawing it in the microwave, it was not easy to pack the rice.
In order to make custom-made trays with different sizes of dents to match the ingredients, he contacted more than 40 container manufacturers and finally received an order from a manufacturer in Osaka.
“I wanted to make sushi suitable for special occasions.
Husband takes 4 months of childcare leave
The reporter also tasted heated sushi. The sushi rice had a texture that didn’t feel frozen, and the scallops and salmon had a moist texture and taste that was somewhere between raw and cooked.
My husband, who works as a product manager at an IT venture, also helped me with planning and strategy for heated sushi.
Watanabe’s husband works full-time, but he took four months of childcare leave. She also divides housework and childcare equally.
“There are no other attempts to freeze and ship heated sushi, so there is nothing I can refer to. I often felt lonely fighting alone, so it was good to be able to consult with my husband. I am thinking”
And it’s been about a year since we first developed heated sushi through crowdfunding. Heated sushi has finally been completed, and online sales have started from November 2022.
Mr. Watanabe“I would like not only pregnant women, but also small children to eat sushi for the first time, people who are sick and refrain from eating live fish, and foreigners who don’t like raw fish.”talk to.
“Instead of putting up with raw food, I want to be an option that says, ‘Then eat heated sushi.'”
Although it will be sold in limited quantities this time, it is said that it will aim for continuous sales in the future.
“Heated sushi” is 6900 yen including tax for one serving (9 pieces of shrimp, amberjack, sea urchin, conger eel, squid, red sea bream, omelet, scallops and salmon). Two servings are 12,800 yen. Details on how to purchase can be found on the website.
(Text by Kotaro Yokoyama)
Source: BusinessInsider
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