Sustainable Shrimp Crackers born from two companies’ food waste sources

Two food companies and a group of students have collaborated to develop a new product, Sustainable Shrimp Cracker, made from two kinds of food waste. The first source of food waste comes from the heads of sweet shrimp, leftover in the process of making shrimp crackers; the other comes from the “non-standard” scraps usually thrown away in the process of making udon noodles.

The two companies Nagoya-based companies, Keishindo and Wakashachiya, are both well-known in Japan as they make popular products.

Keishindo has been making shrimp crackers for more than 150 years, starting out using local shrimp in 1866. The company’s famous product, Sugatayaki, or whole grilled shrimp, is grilled while maintaining the appearance of shrimp, and even now, the craftsmen carefully grill each one by hand. The company boasts its attention to details when making the shrimp crackers and use methods to keep the shrimps fresh while selecting all ingredients very carefully.

Wakashachiya is a restaurant chain that specializes in curry udon noodles and was founded in Nagoya in 1987. The curry udon noodle dish is a popular and inexpensive dish that Japanese people love, and Wakashachiya is gaining popularity as a family-friendly restaurant chain. Although starting out in the Nagoya area, the company now has restaurants all over Japan, including many now in Tokyo. The company is also planning to expand overseas to help spread awareness of the popular Japanese dish internationally.

Both these companies had food waste problems. Although not used in their products, the leftover parts are not only edible but delicious. However, by combining the two kinds of food waste, the two companies developed a new and original delicious product – a spicy curry-flavored shrimp cracker. In addition to this, a group of students from SDGs clubs in Nagoya junior high and high schools also joined the project to provide youth’s perspective.

They hope people not only enjoy the taste but also think about food waste when eating this new cracker.

When a company tries to solve a food waste problem only in-house, the solutions may be limited. However, this collaboration shows that there are ways to change food waste to attractive new products through partnerships with other companies. We hope to see more of these kinds of collaborative and novel initiatives to tackle the pressing issue of food waste.