At Ando Food Sample Manufacturing Co., Ltd., I experienced making an "inedible parfait"♪

Delicious-looking food samples tempt passersby from inside the show window. In recent years, they have become popular as cell phone straps and key chains.
There is a company in Kuwana KuwanaCity Prefecture that manufactures such food samples. They also offer food sample experience classes for the general public.
So I made a reservation, brought an apron, and went to the trial class!

I visited "Ando Food Sample Manufacturing Co."
Our company is located in Kuwana Ichibangai Arcade, right next to Kuwana Station. Nearby shops include a karaoke cafe, a watch shop, a fish shop, etc. There is a good old Showa era shopping street atmosphere.

When you enter the store, there are many food samples!
Behind the draft beer is Yokkaichi's specialty, tonteki. You can also choose to make this tonteki in the trial class.
This time, I'm in the summer mood, so I'm going to try making parfait. By the way, the inside of the store not only displays food samples, but also has a production space that looks like a laboratory that is open to the public.

Now, the trial class begins. On this day, there were plenty of parfait samples available.
You can choose from a variety of ice cream flavors and fruit toppings.
``First, let's choose the flavor of the ice cream.What flavor do you want?'' asked Mr. Ando, the representative.
After much deliberation, I chose strawberry-flavored ice cream.

What I was given was a paper cup, a sauce that looked like strawberry milk, and a mysterious white powder...
It's like trying to make your own ice cream. The raw materials are petroleum-based raw materials such as vinyl chloride resin.
"If you get it on your clothes, it's not an ice cream stain, it's an oil stain. It won't come off even if you wash it, so be careful."
I see, that's why you needed an apron. There is no need to bring an apron as long as you don't mind getting your clothes dirty.

Mix the ingredients...and then the white powder turned pink.
The amount of ingredients to be mixed is determined in 1 gram increments, so it's important to measure them accurately. If you add too much, the ice cream will look like it's melted or crumbly.
It's like making real sweets.

When I scooped up a pink object with a disher and popped it out... it looked like real ice cream!
The exquisite nuances of scooping cold ice cream were recreated. amazing!
``Now, let's harden this ice cream. It's still falling apart right now,'' Ando said as he put the ice cream into the oven.
Do you use an oven to harden ice cream? It seems like my head is confused.

It takes about 10 minutes until the ice cream is baked (?!).
During that time, you are free to pick up and view food samples in the store.
What should I take to make it Instagram-worthy?
I'm sure everyone will be surprised by the fact that cream soda doesn't spill even if it's turned over.

Hmmm, I found a huge red bean ice cream...
This is ice cream manju, a famous snack that has been loved by KuwanaCity for a long time! It is said to be four times larger than the real thing.
Mr. Ando's factory also makes food samples in collaboration with local companies and stores in Kuwana.
Ando says his purpose is to contribute to the local community, and "it's my personal love of Kuwana."

“Thank you for waiting, the ice cream is ready!”
Hot ice cream that had just been taken out of the oven had a unique smell.
It smells like a petroleum product. I started to realize that I couldn't eat it after all.
It will be too hot to touch as it is, so let it cool down a bit.

Choose 3 fruits to put in your parfait.
Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, mangoes, yellow peaches, etc. all look delicious! That's no wonder, as all of them are molded from real fruits.
Blueberries come in a variety of sizes, and you can see Mr. Ando's fussy side.

Now you have all the ingredients for the parfait.
You can also choose from several types of cornflakes. In addition to ``plain'' and ``chocolate flavor,'' we also have a healthy ``germ-containing'' option.
The art is detailed! I almost want to take a bite, but the ice cream is still warm and feels strange.

Spread the ingredients in a cup and decorate with fresh cream.
What looks like fresh cream is actually silicone. It acts as an adhesive that binds materials together.
It feels 5 to 10 times harder than actual fresh cream.

From here on, the process is the same as for real cake decoration.
Before placing the fruit on top of the cream, think carefully about where and what to place.
The trick is to press each fruit in firmly. This will allow the adhesive to work and make it stick firmly.

Finally, insert the parts that will become the memo stand, and your own original parfait will be completed in about 2 hours!
It will take about 2 days for the adhesive to harden. On the way to take it home, Mr. Ando secured it in a paper bag so it wouldn't tip over.

“Thank you for your hard work today,” Mr. Ando said, handing me Yasunaga-Mochi, a specialty of Kuwana.
I received the edible Yasunaga-Mochi from the bag.
The ones I have lined up are Ando's special samples.
Even the transparency of the bean paste is perfect! It seems that they paid special attention to the squishy texture when making it.

Mr. Ando worked at a food sample manufacturer in Nagoya before becoming independent.
All of the food samples displayed in the store are planned and commercialized by Mr. Ando.
In addition to our own products, we also manufacture contract products from other companies. When I asked about their business partners, the names of famous companies kept coming up one after another...
I'm sure the detailed reproduction power is highly praised.

These are some of the original products of "Ando Food Sample Manufacturing".
The mini-sized half-eaten Yasunaga-Mochi turns into earrings! In addition to this, there was also a pin batch of rice grains. It's a fashionable (?!) item that will make people point out that it has rice grains on it just by displaying it on your chest.
Everything has a "looseness" that makes you feel relaxed. However, it is precisely made.

Food sample experience classes are held every Saturday from 2pm (reservation required). Even one person can take the course.
In addition to parfait, the menu that you can experience includes steak, tonteki, hamburger steak, and crepe.
For meat dishes, ingredients are poured into meat molds and molded, and the browned parts are colored. This looks interesting too.

``I can't believe I can see so many food samples at once!'' said the hands-on model with great excitement.
She put the food on her beautiful skirt and said, "That's impossible!" I was obsessed with taking photos for Instagram.
A food sample factory in Mie Prefecture that is fun to watch and make. How about making memories of your trip?

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　[Mie/Food sample making] Very popular with girls! Food sample crepe making experience!

Ando Food Sample Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Address: 476-90 Kuwana, KuwanaCity City, Mie Prefecture
Phone number: 0594-84-7355
Trial class: Every Saturday from 14:00 (approx. 2 hours, reservation required) Trial fee: 4,320 yen
Official website: http://aff987.com