Imaginative snacking

Picking up on the growing trend towards home-made Sushi, Australian-based Oriental Merchant is launching its brand of Kokuho Rose sushi rice onto the New Zealand market. Launched this month in 1 kg flexible packaging plastic, this is a premium grade, short grain rice developed especially for the Japanese art of sushi making. Oriental Foods​ imports a range of Japanese food products, together with noodles, pastas, snacks, soups, cooking ingredients and beverages for both Australia and New Zealand.

Hwa Yuan Foods is launching Jen You Wey Long Juan Guo Rice onto the China market this month, as a brand extension to its popular line of rice-based crisp snacks. Packed in 80 gram flexible plastic and retailing at €0.29, this new variety is described as Korean barbecue flavour. As well as rice, the crisps contain tapioca, malt, red chilli oil, sugar and salt.

Moving over to Japan, where Nichirei Corporation is re-launching Meat Sauce Doria, a microwaveable rice-based meal or snack containing a meat sauce. Retailing at €2.24, the 280 gram pack contains a two-portion set of butter rice topped off with a creamy meat sauce. The manufacturers says that the latest version of this product comes with 25 per cent more meat than in the previous version. The pack contains 203kcal, 7.3 grams of fat and 28.3 grams of carbohydrates. Ingredients include cream, pork, chicken, scallop extract, beef and a variety of vegetables for the sauce including tomato paste and mushrooms.

Meanwhile Daisho Food is launching Bonchi Yaki Salad under the Bonchi brand label on the Malaysian market. It contains 10 rice crackers and a salad dressing sachet, that will retail for €2.41. packaged in see-through flexible wrapping, the product contains vegetable oil, salt, consommé powder and seasoning.

And to wash all of this down Multi Bintang is offering its Fit-N Fun honey flavoured drink to the massive Indonesian market. Packaged in a 33cl aluminium can, the drink will retail at €0.38 and focuses on the growing market for fortified drinks. It contains malt, caramel, sugar and is fortified with calcium as well as vitamins B1, B2 and B6.

This range of finished food and drink products is part of a selection from Mintel's Global New Product Database​.