Nissui Autumn/Winter 2005 New Product Announcement

Amidst the growth of single-person and two-person households resulting from the graying of Japanese society and the breakdown of the standard household, attention is focusing on the "health", rather than "convenience" and "flavor" of food as the values important to consumers. Moreover, the food scene is continuing to change irrespective of place, time or style.

In light of these trends, Nissui is working to ensure stable access to traceable raw material resources and to develop new products based on original concepts, capitalizing fully on the research and development know-how and production technology it has acquired over the course of many years, in accordance with the Nissui philosophy of integrated business and integrated production. Through these efforts, Nissui continues to rise to the challenge of creating and expanding the growth of new categories, while offering products of value to customers.

Creation and Growth of New Categories

• Household frozen foods for adult lunch boxes

In the past, kindergarten children and high school and junior high school students have been perceived as the main consumers of prepared frozen food for lunch boxes, which is the main category within the household frozen food segment; however, sales to this market are expected to plateau due to the population decline of children in recent years and the rising rate of junior high schools providing lunch. On the other hand, a surprisingly large number of working males and females take a lunch box to work, with data indicating that as many as 40% of working females and 30% of working males take a lunch box from home.

Capitalizing on this, Nissui is launching a series of new products for "adult lunch boxes." Everyday lunch boxes for adults not only need to take nutrition and a balance of meat, fish and vegetable content into account, but also need to provide "enhanced quality" by, for example, including a varied array of delicious small side dishes. Nissui satisfies these needs with a multi-faceted line-up of new and renewed products in the household frozen food category of prepared food for lunch boxes.

(1) Nutritionally balanced side dishes made from a combination of fish, meat and vegetables
A new menu of balanced, easier to eat, more tasty side dishes made from a combination of fish or meat with vegetables.

• "Hoshiibundake - Honemade Marugoto Iwashi Dango"

A calcium-rich dish of fish balls made from retort-processed whole mackerel flavored with a sweet and sour soy sauce.

• "Hoshiibundake - Gomadare Buta Shabu"

Lightly cooked strips of pork and vegetables in our original sesame sauce.

(2) Mixed variety of small side dishes
The perfect products for people who "want to enjoy a number of side dishes in one lunch box" or who "want to include healthy side dishes made from vegetables and seaweeds, but don't want to go to all the trouble of making small amounts by hand."

• "Obento ni Benri - 4 Shu no Okazu"

A set of 4 side dishes from the popular, hot-selling "Obento ni Benri" range, adding color to any lunch box.

• "Hitokuchigohan - Benizake to Gomoku"

A set of two kinds of mouthful-size, rectangular-shaped mini rice balls for people who want not only a variety of side dishes, but also something more than plain rice.

(3) Enhanced series of "Shishitsu Cut" products for lower fat consumption
The "Shishitsu Cut" series consists of deep fried foods featuring 30%-40% less fat than our products overall because they are made with a "deep frying batter which prevents oil absorption" developed by Nissui. This series is recommended for people who like to eat fried foods but are concerned about fat consumption.

• "Shishitsu Cut - Amaebi to Yasai no Kakiage" (New product)

A colorful kind of tempura made from deep-water shrimp and vegetables.

• "Shishitsu Cut - Shiromizakana Fry", "Shishitsu Cut - Sauce Tonkatsu", "Shishitsu Cut - Ebi Fry" (all renewed)

Now even more delicious with a crisp fried outer layer.

• Healthy fish sausage snacks

Fish sausage is a healthy snack mothers can give to their children with peace-of-mind. Our series now includes two nutritionally enhanced fish sausage products flavored to make them easier for children to eat.

• "Ichigo Milk"

Fish sausage flavored with strawberry juice and milk. A nutritional functional food (calcium).

• "Fish Sausage Containing 15 Vegetable And 3 Fruit Juices" (renewed)

The "Fish Sausage Containing 8 Vegetable And 3 Fruit Juices" launched in spring now contains an additional 7 vegetables. A nutritional functional food (calcium/B-carotene).

• Retort hotpot soups with two flavors in one (shelf-stable food)

Straight hotpot soups in a retort pouch for the cold season. This season, we launch a new "Hengenabe" series that enable two flavors to be enjoyed in one hotpot.
Start by trying the straight soup then add the paste and enjoy the change in taste.

"Hengenabe: Korean hotpot soup with a spicy sesame paste"
"Hengenabe: Sumo-style hotpot soup with a miso paste"
"Hengenabe: Light hotpot soup with a spicy green pickles paste"

Enhanced range of hot-selling products

• Enhanced product range in the "Obento ni Benri" series (household frozen foods)

Popular as a series of side dishes for lunch boxes that can be naturally defrosted, the "Obento ni Benri" series now includes "Okara", a soy pulp often found in lunch boxes, and "Namuru", a Korean-style vegetable dish, in addition to the "4 Shu no Okazu" mentioned above. This season also sees the re-launch of two existing products in the series which are now even more delicious: "Kinpira Gobo" and "Hijiki no Nitsuke."

• Expansion of chicken products through Nissui's integrated production (Frozen foods for industrial users)

Nissui has an integrated chicken production business based in China which performs every stage in the process from raising chicks to processing chicken products through an integrated production structure. This business keeps clear farming records going back three generations, and uses only chickens which have been nothing but plant-based feed such as corn and soybeans over this duration.
This autumn, we have expanded our range of chicken products to include new "Grilled Chicken", "Teriyaki Chicken" and "Tender Chicken Cutlets" products, and renewed our existing "Chicken Burger (Crispy type)" and "Skewered Chicken Balls."