Nippon Ham released new meat products for oden on September 1 such as sausages and others. This is the company’s first product for oden. In addition to attracting customers with POP for sales floors, etc., the company will drop TV commercials in October through December when demand increases to coexist with fish surimi (paste) products in the existing market, and to liven up the entire oden market.
The new series is named ” Niku-ha no Oden no Gu” (oden ingredients for meat lovers), and four new items were released, including wiener (sausages), gyoza (dumplings), and fried vegetables developed for oden. Utilizing the strengths of meat processing manufacturers, all products use meat raw materials and meat extracts, and for wiener using processing technology that maintains its texture and taste even after being simmered for a long time. With the introduction of this series, the company tries to solve the problems of oden lacking child-friendly ingredients and vegetable, and revitalize the oden sales floor.
According to the company’s research, at-home oden market is estimated to be 300 billion yen, and positioned in the top class in at-home nabe (hot pot) market. In recent years, due to warm winters and soaring vegetable prices, the rate of table appearances for oden has increased while the hot pot has fallen, and a similar trend is predicted this year as well.
In addition, oden is economical because it can be made in advance, and it is one of the few menu items that will taste good over time. It is in line with the cost-consciousness, and it can also be used to accommodate “Barabara shoku” where each family eats at different times.
However, the reality is that target customers of oden are mainly in their 40s to 70s, and there are few young people. In particular, children tend to shy away from fish surimi ingredients, and the purchase ratio of people in their 20s to 30s is low.
In addition, there are few vegetable ingredients and fish surimi ingredients are mostly made by manufacturers in each region, so there is little nationwide sales promotion.
Therefore, as part of the “Oden Rejuvenation Plan,” Nippon Ham will introduce products for children and products that solve insufficient vegetable intake, and will also drop TV commercials with the purpose of “oden that children will love” to strengthen sales promotion.
The new products are four items: “Oden Wiener”, “Nikumochi Gyoza”, “Funwari Irodori Age”, and “Uzura Niku Dango”. “Oden Wiener” adds the umami (deep flavor) of the meat to the taste of the katsuobushi dashi (bonito broth). “Nikumochi Gyoza” is characterized by its mochi-mochi (chewy) texture and retain the texture even after simmered for a long time. “Funwari Irodori Age” contains three kinds of vegetables and is characterized by funwari (fluffy) texture of tofu and chicken, which aims to solve the lack of vegetables in oden ingredients. “Uzura Niku Dango” is meat dumplings made with chicken with quail eggs. These are well received by buyers, and it is expected to revitalize the oden market.