Photo/Illutration A range of meals are prepared using the “night flavor” package from the Schau Essen sausage line in Osaka on Oct. 10. (Ryuichiro Fukuoka)

A food company is using a “forbidden tactic” in its bid to put its sausages, a traditional breakfast or bento item,” on dinner plates around Japan.

The main ingredient in NH Foods Ltd.’s strategy is its recent release of a new sausage under its Schau Essen wiener line.

According to a survey by NH Foods, commonly known as Nippon Ham in Japan, 80 percent of wieners and other processed food products are consumed at breakfast or from lunchboxes. Behind the high rate is the ease in preparing the food during busy morning hours.

NH Foods said consumers are also reluctant to eat such products in the evening because using easy-to-cook items on dinner tables can be seen as “lazy.”

The company not only wants to change the image of wieners but also aims to broaden the customer base for Schau Essen products.

Schau Essen, labeled as Japan’s first authentic coarse-ground wiener, hit the market in 1985.

Since then, the brand’s fans have become increasingly elderly. Women in their 50s to 70s are now the largest group of buyers of Schau Essen products.

In October, NH Foods marketed “night flavor” packages from the Schau Essen line for 583 yen ($3.90), including tax, targeting men in their 30s and 40s.

The new product contains much more spice and is expected to be cooked as a hearty side dish for dinner or paired with alcohol. Its extended maturation period enhances the sausage’s savory aroma.

The limited-time Schau Essen will be on sale until January next year.

For the first time in its history, NH Foods recommended frying the night flavor sausage in oil to enhance its spicy fragrance.
NH Foods had mainly recommended boiling its sausages to maintain their crispy texture.

The frying instructions raised eyebrows within the company.

Masayuki Osada, general manager of NH Foods’ Brand Strategy Section, said frying was so strictly prohibited within the company that he “was severely reprimanded by my boss when serving fried sausages at an in-house tasting session.”

However, an internal company survey conducted in September revealed that a staggering 88 percent of executives and employees at NH Foods had fried wieners for consumption.

“I would have been removed from the project team if I had suggested the night flavor package 10 years earlier,” Osada said of the traditional corporate thinking.

Annual sales for the Schau Essen line in fiscal 2023 reached 74.6 billion yen, and NH Foods is aiming to raise the figure by 30 percent to 100 billion yen by fiscal 2030.

Toward that goal, NH Foods intends to pitch new products and promote exports to Southeast Asia.

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