"Ehomaki" Call for Efforts to Reduce Food Loss 17:18 on January 17, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

Ahead of full-scale sales of Ehomaki for the sake of this year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is calling on industry groups such as supermarkets to take measures to reduce so-called food loss.

Ehomaki is a popular mascot of the set, but while supermarkets and convenience stores are focusing on sales, the problem is that large quantities of unsold Ehomaki are discarded.

For this reason, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has sent a letter to seven industry groups, including supermarkets and convenience stores, in advance of the full-scale sales, demanding that sales meet consumer demand and reduce waste. Was.

So far, 26 businesses, including major convenience stores and local supermarkets, have responded that they have taken action, suggesting that measures such as strengthening reservation sales and reducing the size of products will be taken.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries publishes the businesses it is working on on its website, and Masahiro Nojima, General Manager of the Environmental Protection Office for the Food Industry, said, "Other businesses are encouraged to reduce food loss and consumers understand the efforts. I want you to support me. "

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries estimates for FY2016, households accounted for the largest amount of food waste at 2.91 million tons, accounting for over 40% of the total, and 660,000 waste from supermarkets and convenience stores including Ehomaki. Tons.

At supermarkets and convenience stores

At supermarkets and convenience stores, initiatives to reduce food loss, such as introducing reservation sales of Ehomaki, are expanding.

Of these, Yamaichi, a supermarket that has 16 stores in Tokyo Edogawa Ward and Chiba Prefecture, has been making reservations for Ehomaki rolls for a long time, but last year, a total of about 30 to 40 food losses occurred. It has come out.

For this reason, this time, if you make a reservation in advance by 30th of this month, we will add an additional 10% of points to your own loyalty card.

By combining point redemption that can be used for other shopping, the aim is to have customers make reservations as much as possible.

In addition, the number of types of Ehomaki to sell will be reduced from last year's 9 types to 7 types, and the number of manufactured items will be kept within the range of last year sold without discount.

"I would like to reduce the loss of food from Ehomaki to less than last year. I want to contribute to profits by reducing the loss and also to contribute to environmental issues," said Mr. Iwatate Akira, a director of the Yamaichi Foods Department. .