Japanese Convenience Store Chain Starts Selling Cold Deli Menu Items

In early July 2011, FamilyMart Co., one of Japan's leading convenience store chains, announced the launch of a series of delicious cold deli menu items which do not need to be warmed up, thus saving power used by microwave ovens as part of its measures to combat power shortages during the summer.

Cold champon, the company advocates, includes half the daily vegetable requirements of an average adult. Champon is a noodle dish with seafood and vegetables that originated in Nagasaki Prefecture. While traditional champon is served hot, the newly-developed version is served cold and is delicious with a tasty broth full of the essence of dried bonito, kelp, and shiitake mushrooms. Other new deli items include cold miso soup with pork-shabushabu (thinly sliced meat boiled in water), and chicken rice with cold soup. Customers pour the cold soup over rice heated in a microwave.

The company has been working to decrease electricity consumption, aiming at more than a 20 percent reduction from its maximum peak power consumption during the summer of 2010, by implementing light-emitting diode lighting systems in more stores as well as adjusting lighting equipment and air-conditioning equipment. The company is expected to continue its efforts..

Posted: 2011/09/26 06:00:15 AM