Nitto Best, a leading supplier of commercial frozen foods, is strengthening its lineup of new products and proposals designed to solve issues at foodservice sites. Its new rice porridge set for hospitals and care facilities promises stable quality and significantly reduced kitchen workload. Meanwhile, the new “Cheese-Style Sauce-in Hamburg Steak,” designed for school lunches to accommodate food allergy needs, features a natural flavor and delicious taste that have been well received by users.
Highly Rated as a Textured Staple Meal
Under the “Smooth Gourmet (SG)” brand, the company began full-scale sales this spring of single-serving rice porridge sets. The lineup includes five menu options: “Chinese-Style Bowl,” “Oyakodon (Chicken and Egg Bowl),” “Curry Bowl,” “Beef Sukiyaki Bowl,” and “Mapo Eggplant Bowl.” The porridge, with a pleasantly grainy texture, and the toppings are both processed into a mousse form.
Although porridge is in high demand in hospitals and care facilities, preparing it often requires time-consuming steps such as cooking, steaming, and seasoning. The new products enable consistent, high-quality porridge using either natural thawing or microwave heating, helping workplaces with limited staffing and time reduce labor burdens. Early adopters have offered positive feedback, saying, “It has been very well received as delicious, with almost no leftovers. The total cooking and cleanup process has been shortened by about two hours with two kitchen staff members.” The product is also designed to minimize water separation, significantly reducing the risk of aspiration—one of the biggest concerns for meal providers.
Under the food allergy–friendly “Friends Meal (FM)” brand, the company launched the “Cheese-Style Sauce-in Hamburg Steak.” Made without eggs, dairy, or wheat, the product features a cheese-flavored sauce inside the patty, providing a characteristic cheesy aroma and a smooth, melt-in-the-mouth texture even after time has passed. It is primarily intended for use in school lunch programs.
For the foodservice sector, the “Joy Gourmet (JG)” brand has rolled out new ethnic-inspired menu items modeled after Taiwanese street food. The “JG Mochitto Maki” series includes three varieties, such as the savory, pan-fried “Sesame Oil Scented Scallion Pancake-Style”. The premium “Gold Dish” series has also been expanded with a new retort-pouch “Japanese Beef Shank Stew,” a refined dish made from carefully selected ingredients. Adding vegetables or garnishes at the restaurant level is recommended for an upgraded presentation.
For the retail market, products are offered under the “Edel Chef (EC)” brand. The new “Hamburg Steak Eaten with Chopsticks” features a tender texture that separates easily with chopsticks and a juicy flavor. The large, big-size 180g patty—too big to cook evenly at home—can be prepared conveniently in a microwave.
Additionally, two new “Friends Crepe” products—“Yogurt-Style” and “Strawberry”—have been released, both made without eggs, dairy, or wheat. Originally used in school lunches, these items attracted significant attention from young mothers nostalgic for childhood flavors, leading to their commercialization for retail.
The company recently held a tasting event for the industry media. Executive Managing Officer and Director Akihide Watanabe commented, “While inbound demand in the restaurant sector has stabilized, our company continues to focus on school meals and delicatessen markets as key business pillars. We aim to expand each business in response to changes in the external environment.”