KNOWLEDGE OF RICE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY: Taste of Tokyo’s instant success is due to a close and professional collaboration between Epa Foods A/S and the Danish Technological Institute. A systematic and analytic approach to production leads to industrial manufacturing of high quality. Taste of Tokyo’s instant success with its industrially made sushi specialities is particularly due to targeted innovation and product development which the company has gained through close collaboration with the Danish Technological Institute. The collaboration has been the background for the upscaling from ’chef scale’ to industrial scale without Taste of Tokyo compromising on quality. It has made large demands on production technology, hygiene, packaging and distribution. “Sushi, which quite simply means boiled marinated rice and is the basic and main ingredient of a piece of sushi, becomes dull when the rice sits there being chilled. So we make use of the Danish Technological Institute’s expertise in measuring for example texture and consistency. It gives us an assurance for always supplying optimal and uniform quality,” says Anders P. Christensen of Taste of Tokyo. The institute makes systematic analyses of production processes and recipes. In addition, tests are carried out on the company’s own production equipment, and the institute makes product characterizations by measuring the consistency of the rice on the institute’s advanced texture analyzer. The systematic and analytical approach to how to prepare sushi rice that retains the right quality for two days product shelf life, has provided Taste of Tokyo with an understanding of rice which very few possess worldwide. “We have a highly comprehensive knowledge of rice varieties, how to keep and treat them, as well as the composition of the right marinades for boiling them in,” says Anders P. Christensen. “There are a vast number of details to take into consideration if you want to achieve the right quality. Our collaboration with the Danish Technological Institute has ensured that.” http://www.teknologisk.dk