Akaushi Beef-Flavored Chips Debut to Promote Kyushu Area

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:15 JST, September 3, 2023

KUMAMOTO — Snack maker Koike-ya Inc. has released potato chips with the flavor of Akaushi beef, a specialty of Kumamoto Prefecture.

The Tokyo-based company developed the “Akaushi Teppanyaki Wasabi-joyu Kumamoto” potato chips as one of its “Koikeya Pride Potato” products to promote the charm of the prefecture and thereby help the prefecture’s Aso region get designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The chips will be on sale at supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide through the end of October. The snack is savory with a wasabi soy sauce accent to create a “juicy and refreshing flavor.”

Koike-ya launched the Koikeya Pride Potato project in 2018 to contribute to local communities by utilizing local ingredients in the company’s products. Koike-ya donates ¥1 for every item sold from the designated products.

In 2021, the company opened a plant in Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, to develop products for which ingredients in the prefecture are used. The Akaushi meat-flavored potato chips are the third Kumamoto-related product.

“The chips have a mix of spicy and mild flavors. I can’t stop eating them,” Kumamoto Gov. Ikuo Kabashima said at a tasting event at the prefectural office. The governor also was involved in the development of the chips.

“We were able to bring out the flavor of Akaushi meat,” Koike-ya President Akira Sato said. “We would like to promote the product as a way to support the registration [of the Aso region] as a World Cultural Heritage site.”