Right now I'm curious about this product but can't find it in our international food store in Chicagoland.
I do a lot of hiking. This bread in a can would be nice in the back pack.
What size is it?
The sales goes to disabled workers.
Bread that now comes in cans
06/06/2006
In a sense, it's the next best thing to sliced bread: Bread that comes in a can and stays fresh for up to three years, that is.
The innovative product, intended for use as emergency rations, is the brainchild of a vocational center in Nagoya. The bread is baked by physically disabled residents of the Nagoya Light House Kowa dormitory.
Six bakers work in a small factory that was completed in early April in Nagoya's Koei district. The canned bread is called Pan Desuyo! (This Is Bread!). After the baked dough is placed into a can, the container is sealed.
The bread-making project aims to raise funds for the vocational aid facility for people with physical disabilities in Nagoya's Showa Ward. A law that took effect in April requires people who receive disability pensions to earn a portion of their living expenses.
The group sells the bread directly to businesses, but it hopes to sell it wholesale in large quantities to supermarkets and municipal governments.
The idea for the product came about three years ago. The group was well aware that canned foods can be stored for years in anticipation of natural disasters and are in great demand in this earthquake-prone country. So they reasoned, why not bread?
But it is a finicky product to make. It was hard to ensure loaves stay fresh and soft once they are canned.
The Nagoya Light House Kowa dormitory is the second vocational center to try its hand at bread-making. Another such facility in Hokkaido makes Asunaro Pan, and its sales are strong.
Kowa got help with the recipes from Eiji Kato, a local pastry chef. Still, group members had a tough time figuring out how to can the bread because companies that use the technology are reluctant to reveal their manufacturing techniques.
Kato discovered how to keep the bread fresh for three years without using preservatives and additives.
The group devised three flavorful recipes--chocolate chip; raisin and fruit; and a coffee, fruit and nut concoction. To ensure high quality, the bakers have the pH levels and level of moisture in cans checked monthly. Currently, the bakery produces only 500 cans a day, but it hopes soon to double that output.
Before the bread project began, Kowa dorm residents each earned an average 40,000 yen monthly by working on producing Braille publications and doing small-parts manufacturing.
The group hopes to double residents' income with sales of the canned bread.
A few large businesses and food processing companies have already placed orders for the emergency bread.
"But the biggest challenge is still securing a wider distribution and sales route," says sales manager Shinichi Noto.
"If we can get the know-how, we can spread the canned bread business as a franchise, which will raise job opportunities for the physically disabled," he said.
With experts warning a major Tokai earthquake could strike any time, the group is working on publicity efforts to encourage sales.
Each can of Pan Desuyo, containing 100 grams of bread in two small loaves, costs 330 yen. Orders can be placed for single cans or cases of 3, 12 or 24 cans.
Contact the Kan Shokuhin Kaihatsu Center at 052-659-3407, by fax at 052-659-3408 or see their Web site at <http://pan.e-nakama.jp>.(IHT/Asahi: June 6,2006)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-...606060200.html
Photo:
Tokyo Times