Development of a New Product that Supports a Local Brand Together with the Community

Seven-Eleven has been focusing on showcasing local ingredients and working towards community revitalization through product development that utilizes these unique regional ingredients for some time. We have turned our attention this time to the Furukawa eggplant brand which boasts the highest production output in Miyagi Prefecture.

Furukawa eggplant is a vegetable attractive for its beautiful color, thick and chewy texture, and juiciness. JA Furukawa has turned it into a brand under strict shipping standards. It is produced with an emphasis placed on quality control. The shipping criteria for Furukawa eggplant is extremely strict because it is a branded vegetable. Moreover, it grows well as a plant. It grows about 3 cm a day depending on the weather. That means it can become non-standard due to overgrowth.
We hope to support producers by effectively using such non-standard Furukawa eggplant without waste. We want communities to consume local vegetables with love to more widely spread their appeal to those communities. What we envisioned is a product that supports and nurtures the local brand together with the community. That product is the “Meat Sauce Gratin with Furukawa Eggplant”.

Rediscovering the Tastiness of Furukawa Eggplant with Everyone in the Community

The product we have now developed allows those in the community to rediscover the tastiness of Furukawa eggplant. The richness of the white sauce, the savory goodness of the meat sauce and the sourness of the tomatoes adds balance to this product and gives it a taste you will not tire of. The largely sliced eggplant is not lost in the sauce; rather, it produces a gratin which allows you to fully enjoy the tastiness of the ingredients themselves.
We plan to sell “Meat Sauce Gratin with Furukawa Eggplant” in 7-Eleven stores in Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures from around October 2023.

From Local Production for Local Consumption to Revitalization of the Community and a Reduction of Our Environmental Impact

We started the local production for local consumption of the Furukawa eggplant initiative we have introduced here in 2022. In addition to the “Meat Sauce Gratin with Furukawa Eggplant” which we developed this time, we have been selling other products made with non-standard Furukawa eggplant. As a result, the amount of non-standard Furukawa eggplant shipped for processing has increased from approximately 10 tons to approximately 18.5 tons. Additionally, the planting area of Furukawa eggplant this year expanded to 126% of what it was last year*. This has led to an increase in the production output of Furukawa eggplant itself thereby bringing great delight to producers.
*Comparison with the planting area of Furukawa eggplant in FY2022

Moreover, there are other benefits to the community. There is a virtuous cycle for the local economy arising because the product is completed within the sales area: from the food production to manufacturing, sales and consumption. Another benefit given is that it also leads to a reduction in the environmental impact associated with the transportation of food in addition to contributing to the local economy. Seven-Eleven will continue to work to realize environmentally-friendly and sustainable communities by shining a spotlight on local ingredients in the future.