“Fuji Reika” is an ice cream shop in the Southern Hokkaido city of Hakodate that produces and sells the ice cream called “Dassai Sake Kasu Ice”, and it has recently started exporting that product to China. Sake producer Asahi Shuzo (Yamaguchi Prefecture) supplies the sake kasu (a brewing byproduct) for the ice cream, and is also involved in the export plans. Exports started at 24,000 units up front this first month alone. For November, they have received orders for 168,000 units. This is the first large-scale exporting of this ice cream brand, and the shop expressed surprise that, “ice cream made by a small family run shop should garner this level of response.”

— “Inspiration to come to Japan and visit the shop”

Dassai Sake Kasu Ice was first made into a marketable product by Fuji Reika a decade ago. It is made from sake kasu byproduct produced in the process of brewing the Junmai Daiginjo Sake “Dassai” by Asahi Shuzo, and Hokkaido-produced milk and fresh cream as well. The alcohol content is removed, leaving behind the sweetness and full-body flavor of sake kasu. When Fuji Reika shop representative Nakamura Akihiro sent a prototype of the ice cream to Asahi Shuzo, the response was, “This is delicious, so we want you to sell it with our logo on it too,” and production began. The ice cream sells at the Fuji Reika shop and other places including Asahi Shuzo direct sales shops.

The ice cream has been shipped internationally to events and restaurants in places like Taiwan, but this is the first large scale exporting. In China, Dassai sake and Hokkaido-produced products are popular, and foreign tourists used to frequently come to the Fuji Reika shop to purchase products before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to the product name “Dassai”, the shop name “Fuji Reika” also adorns the ice cream top. Nakamura commented, “Customer inflow at the shop is decreasing during the pandemic, and we want a large number of Chinese customers to enjoy our ice cream. It would also be great if this inspires them to even come visit us once the pandemic is over.” At the shop, 120 milliliter containers sell for 350 yen in Japan.