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Kewpie Japan Developed The Plant-based Egg!
Everyone in Japan knows Kewpie! Kewpie is a widely known mayonnaise brand that leading the share in the market in Japan. Considering the need for plant-based food, Kewpie releases HOBOTAMA, a plant-based egg for business use such as in restaurants, hotels, and school meals from 30 June 2021.
The new product『HOBOTAMA』is a plant-based food made from processed soy milk as base that appear in a form and texture of scrambled egg. HOBOTAMA reproduces chef handmade’s half-cooked scrambled egg which can increase the added value of the menu offered at restaurants. It comes in plain flavor that goes well with bread or vegetables, and can widely used for sandwiches and breakfast menus. HOBOTAMA is developed to deliver the deliciousness of eggs, to enrich food options, and to support the children brighter future. This is a product that is considerate of those who cannot eat eggs due to various reasons such as allergies.
※Quote from PRTimes
Today we had an opportunity to talk with product development and research teams to dig deeper about this new product.
Kewpie and vegetable friends welcome us at the entrance of Kewpie Corporation
Egg Alternative from Plant, “HOBOTAMA”
HOBOTAMA
Kewpie Corporation suggests three delicious menus to enjoy HOBOTAMA and today we got an opportunity to enjoy Hobotama Mayo Hot Dog Buns. Note that you will need to defrost the HOBOTAMA before consuming it as it comes in frozen.
First of all, it has an appearance that really likes the real scrambled egg! Furthermore, it has a soft texture as a scrambled egg and has the essential taste of an egg that many people can enjoy eating.
According to the development team, the HOBOTAMA which comes in plain flavor tastes even better when warmed, but the soybean flavor is slightly stronger. When we try the warmed one, we can feel how the egg becomes more fluffy with the impression that the taste becomes way closer to the real egg.
Scrambled eggs are usually cooked and eaten by adding some seasonings such as soy sauce and mayonnaise. This time we tried adding Kewpie’s Egg Care (egg-free mayonnaise) that completely blurs the soybean flavor of HOBOTAMA.
Kewpie releases some menus to enjoy HOBOTAMA on the link below (in Japanese).
https://www.kewpie.co.jp/prouse/recommend/hobotama/
About HOBOTAMA
Content/Packing：120g/20 bags
Best before：1 year in frozen
Price：open
Release date：30 June 2021 (Wed)
Ingredients：processed soymilk (domestic manufacturing), vegetable oil, salt, yeast extra powder/trehalose, starch, gelling agent (sodium alginate, calcium lactate, gardenia pigment, thickening agent, seasoning (amino acid), spices
The Secret Behind HOBOTAMA
Development team members of Kewpie Corporation
This project was started in December 2018 by accumulating manufacturing technology we did in the past to develop this product. Basically, eggs are more often on the menu than on their own, so we thoroughly did researches about the compatibility with bread, vegetables, and the final products that restaurants and hotels offer to customers such as sandwiches and hamburgers to produce an easy-to-use product.
The most difficult part of the development was the reproduction of the “half-cooked egg”. It was finally completed after repeating the tremendous trial production of 139 times and feedbacks from the sales department, which then led to the completion of until HOBOTAMA.
There are about 30 candidates for naming and after repeating the discussion, we decided to name the product “HOBOTAMA”, by pursuing “easy to understand” and “familiarity”. In fact, “HOBOTAMA” is the first product of Kewpie in Japan that comes in English naming.
Currently, the plant-based market is growing significantly in the world and seems to expand further in the future. For the time being, Kewpie plans to start selling in domestic Japan by BtoB but also considering entering the overseas market. However, Kewpie stands to do not compete with other products in the world but would like to proceed with the policy of coexisting and expanding the field of plant-based food together.
HOBOTAMA tasting
See Also
Soy Meat, Plant-Based “Meat” That is Booming in Japan
Japan’s First Exclusive Interview! Message From The Global Plant-Based Industry To Japan
