Amici has been serving Italian delicacies since 2007 at its two trattorias in Ibaraki. In 2021, it expanded into producing frozen ready-to-eat Italian staples for supermarkets.
But its technique will shift when it expands into broader Asian retail markets, the place competitors is excessive for worldwide meals merchandise.
One strategy for capturing market curiosity is mixing Japanese components into Italian delicacies.
“We have always adhered to serving authentic Italian food. But this must change if we want to succeed beyond Japan. We are still strategizing and working on the recipes, gathering feedback from events such as this,” stated Amici’s coordinator Jun Murakami, when requested how Amici will take care of competitors from native Italian meals producers.
Murakami was chatting with FoodNavigator-Asia on the Food Japan 2024 occasion, held at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre from 24–26 October.
Amici imports key substances like tomato sauce and cheese from Italy to make sure an genuine style. The remainder of the substances are sourced inside Japan as they don’t have an effect on the important flavours.
Unlike many different eateries and types within the nation, Amici doesn’t serve fusion Japanese Italian meals in order that they’ll cater to the native demand for genuine abroad delicacies, defined Murakami.
While its choices in Japan is more likely to stay unchanged, the Amici group has a couple of concepts on methods to incorporate Japanese components into its meals for Asian retailers.
Japanese-Italian fusion – A novel enchantment for South East Asia
For the pizza dough, Japanese rice flour could possibly be used as an alternative of the normal Italian pizza flour, stated Amici chef Yuji Ota.
Shoyu and miso paste can be added to pastas and pizzas, which is able to give an umami enhance and an genuine Japanese flavour.
The intention is to infuse an applicable dose of product differentiation with out ruining the authenticity of Italian meals.
For snack choices, Ota is contemplating flavours like matcha or adzuki for fried pizza, which is one thing like a calzone. This will add a Japanese twist to the normal fried pizza, or pizza fritta, which originated in Naples.
Pizza fritta is a lesser-known cousin of Italian pizza. Instead of getting the substances served on an open pizza, the sauces and fillings are enclosed throughout the dough.
These new flavours will add to its present fried pizza vary, which at present contains traditional Italian flavours like margherita, clam chowder, and chocolate – flavours that the majority Asians are aware of.
“Japanese food is well received in Singapore, so adding more Japanese flavours to our product range will appeal more to consumers,” stated Murakami, who stated Amici is testing its merchandise in Singapore earlier than contemplating enlargement to different neighbouring South East Asian areas.
Apart from geographical and cultural proximity, Singapore makes an acceptable Asian hub with its various inhabitants and established demand for Japanese delicacies.
It can be an excellent place to develop halal-friendly choices, which may assist enlargement into different South East Asian markets with important Muslim populations.
As Amici checks its fusion creations, it hopes to convey a contemporary tackle Italian-Japanese delicacies to South East Asia’s ready-to-eat market.
The model is balancing authenticity with native tastes because it begins its Asian enlargement in Singapore – an strategy it believes will assist broaden its enchantment throughout various markets within the area.