Published on 11/27 (Wed) 11:02 aera dot. 2024 may be the year when “furikake” sells the most in Japan. On August 23, the Japan Food News published an article titled “Furikake = Value pack that meets budget-minded consumer demand as it reaches new record high.” According to the paper, the shipment value of furikake from major manufacturers such as Marumiya Foods, Mishima Foods, and Nagatanien began to grow around September 2022, and has been on an upward trend for 27 months. The highest shipment value to date was 41.2 billion yen in fiscal 2000, but recovered to 40 billion yen in fiscal 2011. This year’s figure is also up 4% from last year, and it is certain to surpass the record set in 2000. Furthermore, according to the “Furikake Market Sales Trends” report compiled by market research company Fuji Keizai, the Furikake market has shown basically steady growth since the 1980s, and is expected to reach 53.8 billion yen in 2022, 57.2 billion yen in 2023, and 57.5 billion yen in 2024. Those of the Showa generation may think of Furikake as “children’s food.” Many of the packages feature children’s characters, and many people will have memories of asking their parents to buy them furikake in the past. Now that we are in the 6th year of Reiwa, why is Furikake seeing record sales? Yoshioka Yuki, a reporter at the Japan Food Newspaper who wrote the aforementioned article, analyzes it as follows: “One reason is that furikake is an excellent choice when it comes to prices. The period of decline in real wages roughly coincides with the period when the market size of Furikake expanded. Furikake is often thought of as a side dish for breakfast or lunch, but with inflation currently putting a strain on household finances, there are fewer side dishes that can be made. To compensate for this, furikake has started appearing at dinner as well. Looking back into history, the Furikake market also boomed during the “Heisei Rice Riots” in 1993, when Thai rice was urgently imported, and in the 2000s, when the bubble burst and the Japanese economy entered a deflationary trend. When a “dining crisis” occurs, such as a drop in income or a rise in food prices, cheap and delicious furikake has come to be treasured as an “ally of the common people.” Marumiya Foods boasts the number one share in the furikake industry. Aoki Hayato, head of the Public Relations and Advertising Department, explains the popularity of Furikake as follows: “The generation that grew up with Furikake as children have become parents and now enjoy it with their own children, creating a virtuous cycle of long-selling products.” (Source below.
>>8 I was undecided about which wasabi furikake to buy, so I bought the Seven Premium wasabi furikake, but it didn’t taste like wasabi at all. I’ll try it next time.
>>11 Taxes weren’t as harsh as they are now (the consumption tax was introduced in the Heisei era) and it was good economically 😭 Prices were cheaper than now and there was a wide variety of side dishes.
Noritama is great at first because the grains are big and there’s seaweed in it, but at the end it crumbles too much, so I always buy the small size, but most supermarkets only have the large bags.
Everyone is getting poorer and can’t afford to eat things like mentaiko anymore. In impoverished Japan, all you can eat is mentaiko furikake (198 yen).
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