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Bento Boxes Using Plant-Based Meat Debut at Isetan Shinjuku
Autumn is the best season of appetite! At this time of the year, restaurants and food shops release brand new menus that offer the feel of the season.
Bento (lunch) boxes using plant-based ingredients are planned to be on the stage all at once at Isetan Shinjuku B1F.
What is the Afu no Wa Project?
This campaign is initiated as part of a project called “Afu no Wa 2030”. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, in collaboration with the Consumer Affairs Agency and the Ministry of the Environment, promotes activities to accelerate sustainable consumption to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
As part of this project, Sustainability Week “Okaimono leading to the future” will be held from September 18th (Saturday) to 28th (Tuesday) at the time of the 76th United Nations General Assembly.
A number of companies, from major corporations such as Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. to small and medium-sized enterprises that carry out their unique initiatives, are participating with the concept of “shopping for sustainability than appearance through food”.
Bento Boxes With Plant-Based Protein Make Their Debut
Isetan Mitsukoshi Co., Ltd. announced that they will hold a food event with the theme “Bento Meets Climate Change, Reduce Plastic, and The Usage of Plant-Based Protein OmniMeat in Bento (Lunch Box) and Side Dish” at Isetan Shinjuku store.
We, Mitsukoshi Isetan, are working on promoting 4R and dealing with food loss under the slogan “think good” with the meaning of “starting by utilizing your imagination and considering earnestly.” “Cobento” is a small bento series created to make it easy for children and women to finish. This time, a menu using plant-based protein, including OmniMeat, has appeared as an alternative ingredient to meat. It will be upgraded to be more earth-friendly using plastic-free and/or plastic-reduced containers and will be sold at the participating stores (Isetan Shinjuku Main Building B1F Delicatessen Section).
See Also
Talk of The Town; The World’s First Plant-Based Meat “OmniMeat®” (Meat Analogue)
The brands using OmniMeat include “Izutsu Maisen” (which is famous for its pork cutlet), “Tenten” (a restaurant specializing in one-bite dumplings born in Osaka), and “Yushoku” (a kaiseki restaurant in Akasaka, Tokyo).
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In addition, it seems that lunch boxes using plant-based protein ingredients other than OmniMeat such as Kiyoken and Nadaman are available too!
List of Vegan-Friendly Lunch Boxes
Although they incorporate plant-based protein ingredients, not all bento boxes are vegetarian or vegan friendly. We will introduce menus that are found to be vegan friendly as far as we can confirm. This time, we consider them as vegan-friendly based on the ingredients listed and allergy labeling. Please contact each store for contamination and more detailed information if you wish to
“Small Shojin Chirashi-Sushi” by Yushoku
Yushoku offers a colorful chirashi-sushi (scattered-sushi) using OmniMeat to add a fulfilling feeling. It is a luxurious dish as it uses matsutake mushrooms (vegan-friendly).
“Small Shojin Chirashi-Sushi” by Yushoku
“Vegetable One-Bite Gyoza” by Tenten
OmniMeat meets perfectly with vegetable dumplings! Unlike regular dumplings, you can eat them in one bite, endlessly!! (vegan-friendly).
“Vegetable One-Bite Gyoza” by Tenten
Customers can purchase OmniMeat used in these lunch boxes at Chef’s Selection shop set up at the same floor.
Summary
・ Sustainability Week “Okaimono leading to the future” will be held as part of the Afu no Wa project.
・ A number of shops offer bento boxes using plant-based alternative meat at the food section on the BF1 floor of Isetan Shinjuku.
・ Vegan-friendly bento boxes come in “Small Shojin Chirashi-Sushi” by Yushoku and “Vegetable One-Bite Gyoza” by Tenten.
How excited are you? It is hard to say that all bento boxes are designed with consideration for food diversity. However, we hope that iconic brands and long-established stores will take this opportunity to continue, improve, and expand their lineup for creating a table where everybody can enjoy!
If you happen to be nearby, make sure to check out these bento boxes!
Campaign Overview
*Some bento products use animal ingredients. Please check with the shop regarding ingredients used and vegan-friendliness.
Location: Isetan Shinjuku Store Main Building B1F Delicatessen Section.
Period: September 15th (Wednesday) -September 28th (Tuesday).
Campaign Page: https://www.maff.go.jp/j/press/kanbo/b_kankyo/210817.html (in Japanese).
