ロッテで竹製スティックが採用された記事が山陰中央新報に掲載されました。
[掲載日]2023.11.14
2023/11/14 山陰中央新報デジタル記事より
英語訳
Our company has been adopted by a major bamboo stick company. (Article content) Bamboo sticks for ice cream made by Hirose Products (Shimoyamasa, Hirose-cho, Yasugi City), which manufactures bamboo skewers, have been adopted for the popular ice cream “Chocolate & Vanilla Bar” by Lotte (headquartered in Tokyo), a major confectionery manufacturer. According to the company, this is the first time in Japan that bamboo sticks have been used in frozen desserts that are generally distributed to large stores. Bamboo grows faster than wood, making it easier to secure materials, which has the advantage of leading to forest conservation, and Hirose Products aims to expand its uses. The bamboo stick used is 11.4 cm long and 0.95 cm wide. Bamboo is knotted and difficult to process, but it is finished so that there are no scratches or irregularities left on the surface by making full use of automatic sorting machines. Compared to wood, it tends to have a peculiar odor, so sterilization is also applied. To confirm the quality such as the processing accuracy of the surface, we inspect them one by one and ship them. Ice sticks are often made from birch from Russia. However, it takes 30~40 years for birch to be available as wood. In Russia, logging has decreased due to logging, and securing stability in the future has become an issue due to the impact of export restrictions due to the war in Ukraine. According to a Lotte spokesperson, as part of forest conservation, the company asked Hirose Products to produce it in 2021. The company has repeatedly improved the manufacturing process so that it can be used for frozen desserts and has succeeded in delivering them. The price is about 80 Sen per piece, which is about 10% higher than wood. Bamboo grows in about 4 years. It is tall and interferes with the photosynthesis of other plants, hindering their growth, and is also home to wild animals such as wild boars and monkeys. Various “bamboo damages” such as shallow roots and landslides are likely to occur, and the need for logging is said to be necessary depending on the region. In addition to sticks, Hirose Products has also developed bamboo straws and toothbrushes, and has become a big buyer for solving social issues. President Manabu Tetsumoto said, “The most distinctive feature of bamboo is that it is a sustainable material, and we Thailand expand its use in other confectionery products in the future as an alternative to wood.”
