Maruha Nichiro invests in two healthy meal suppliers

Maruha Nichiro has invested in two separate suppliers of healthy ready-to-eat meals.

The Tokyo, Japan-based seafood supplier said on 11 April that it invested in Happi Foodi in Boise, Idaho, U.S.A., which produces cauliflower pizzas, keto bowls, and other healthy pre-made meals and appetizers.

“Happi Foodi’s philosophy is entirely consistent with ours, in that ‘Maruha Nichiro Group aims to be an essential part of society by improving everyone’s daily life with wholesome, safe and healthy food,” the company said in a press release.

Happi Foodi was founded to “make eating well effortless by bringing quality and trust to the freezer aisle,” Maruha Nichiro said. It launched in 2009 with a line of Belgian waffles, and today has a wide a range of ready-to-eat meals and appetizers.

Maruha Nichiro said its global sales network worldwide will be “an important growth strategy for the future” of Happi Foodi.

“We have made this investment based on our strategy focused on a capital and business alliance with an experienced partner who will continue to scale and grow in frozen-food manufacturing and continue to capture cutting edge food sales in North America,” it said.

On 7 January, Maruha Nichiro invested in Nosh Corporation based in Osaka, Japan. The company develops, manufactures, and sells “meals that make it easy to maintain a healthy diet” through a subscription model, mainly via the internet.

The company offers a subscription service for frozen boxed lunches with strictly controlled sugar and salt content for those seeking to prevent lifestyle-related diseases, people on low-impact diets, and those having little time to spend on cooking, Maruha Nichiro said in a press release.

“In recent years, the service demand has shown an increase accompanied with the demand for expenditure at staying at home, and further expansion of demand is expected in the future, not only by further improving the service content, but also by broadening the target customer base,” Maruha Nichiro said.

Since 2020, Maruha Nichiro has supplied foodstuffs, such as seafood, meat, and agricultural products to Nosh.

“This investment is expected to further strengthen the relationship in the area of food ingredients supply, and to expand the potential for further service improvements and new value providing by combining the strengths of the two companies,” the supplier said.

“In addition, we plan to collaborate with Nosh, which possesses a wealth of technology and know-how in the field of Internet marketing, and we expect to create new services from the perspective of open innovation,” Maruha Nichiro said. “Through this investment and collaboration, we will contribute to the promotion of health throughout society through healthy eating and work to create new value for the next generation and a better world.”

Photo courtesy of Nosh