Up-cycling Food in Nagano

Overview

The “up-cycling of food” as carried out in Nagano, Japan refers to a food initiative that gives new purpose to unused raw materials such as offcuts and surplus raw materials generated from food manufacturing processes, all to create new added value. As a background, in April 2022, Nagano City food startup ICS-net began planning and developing up-cycled products in collaboration with the city-run NAGANO Smart City Commission. Via collaboration with companies and university in the city, the company has produced gourmet canned food made from leftover Shinshu Fukumi chicken liver and heart, craft beer made from wafer scraps from souvenir sweets, and a curry using substandard tomatoes and Shinshu golden shamo chicken. Additionally, ICS-net has been selling unused raw food materials through its own raw food materials trading platform.

Successful outcomes

• During the demonstration period (August 2022 to March 2023), sales amounted to about 1,100,000 yen.
• Raw materials left unused were reduced by 2 tons (August 2022 to July 2023).

Aiming to reduce food loss and achieve an economically rational up-cycling business

As part of a basic plan to become a sustainable smart city, Nagano City in Nagano Prefecture, Japan has been supporting companies working on food tech and the recycling of local resources. The project in Nagano for up-cycled food as being carried out by ICS-net is one part of the initiative, as it was selected as one of the city’s demonstration projects, thereby receiving funding.

Founded in 2017, ICS-net has the purpose of “utilizing precious food resources” and operating “Shareshima,” which is a platform for buying and selling food ingredients, along with creating web media for food developers. As of the end of 2023, Shareshima has gathered over 3,000 members, including major companies, etc.

Actually, in Japan, approximately 5.23 million tons of food loss occurs annually (as of 2021), and the food manufacturing industry accounts for 24% (1.25 million tons) of the total. The Japanese government aims to reduce this to 4.89 million tons by FY2030.

Koike commented on the importance of up-cycling so as to increase added value: “Food that has passed its expiry date is sold at a lower price, but that price reduction doesn’t do anything for producers. What is important when dealing with food loss is that it is economically rational. In thinking about how we can give back to producers, we need to make sure that prices don’t just keep getting lower and lower, such as by adding value by improving seasoning, design, etc.”

The logo of Koike’s up-cycling project in Nagano was designed as a combination based on the philosophy of no.12 of the UN’s SDGs “Responsible consumption and production” and the infinity symbol (∞). The idea is to “improve society by connecting people” and to “create value for food ingredients that have nowhere to go.”

The demonstration project involved distributing a questionnaire survey to various food companies in the city, along with Koike and his employees visiting local agricultural cooperatives and butcher shops, and then the project was started after determining what kind of unused raw materials existed and how much. Then, after examining the safety of unused raw materials and making repeated prototypes, the project was officially born, resulting in products such as the canned “Fukumi Chicken Fuku Fuku Liver Series,” which uses the liver and heart of Shinshu Fukumi chicken (which had been in oversupply). (As a background, in Japan, canned foods using carefully selected ingredients and flavor are gaining popularity.) The product name was decided on via a workshop involving students from the University of Nagano. Then, on February 20, 2023, six flavors of this canned chicken went on sale: Creamy herb pate, ginger soy sauce, ajillo, sesame oil & green onion salt, yangnyeom, and Korean BBQ. The packaging was designed to make the message easy to convey, with natural colors and the logo at the center, and the final products were sold as specialty products and souvenirs at stores with ties to Nagano, along with online sales.

Although the demonstration period ended at the end of March 2023, ICS-net aims to expand its upcycled food business with an eye toward the global food situation. Through their “Shareshima,” in addition to focusing on expanding the secondary market for buying and selling unused food raw materials, most recently, in collaboration with a popular magazine, they developed and sold rice flour bread made from old rice, substandard ingredients, offcuts, and food residue.

Japan’s up-cycled food market is in its infancy. Koike says: “We are at the stage of creating a track record to show that there is an outlet for unused food raw materials.” While working with various companies and people also trying to reduce food loss, the company’s policy is to open up new opportunities, possibilities, and markets for unused food raw materials.

Nagano Up-Cycling Food

ICS-net Co., Ltd.
https://www.ics-net.com/upcycle/

Back to Home