Translations

PAN AKIMOTO invents the Ever Fresh Bread: A life saving bread

4. Environment

Green design

Sector Food-processing

Year 2011

Country Japan

Transmitter

Context

Established in 1947 by Kenji Akimoto, Pan Akimoto (Pan in Japanese means bread) was not different from any local bakery. With the Kobe earthquake in 1995, Yoshihiko Akimoto (son of Kenji) noted that 30% of the bread distributed to the survivors was thrown away (discarded), because they weren’t fresh any more. He was frustrated, by the limited shelf life of the bread (a few days at most) or of the dry bread (a sort of cracker or biscuit), which has two disadvantages, its low nutritional intake and it does not solve the problem of preserving the freshness of the bread over time.

Objectives

- Extend the shelf life of the bread while retaining its nutritional qualities,

- An efficient management of the resources during natural disasters.

- Reduce the environmental impact of Ever Fresh Bread.

APPROACH

After a year of research, Pan Akimoto developed the Ever Fresh Bread. This patterned innovation allows the bread to stay fresh for months (13 to 37 months) by baking the bread inside the tin can without letting the bread stick to its walls, thanks to a special paper.

Alongside with the Ever Fresh Bread innovation, Pan Akimoto has developed the Kyu-Can-Chu Project in accordance with the principles of the Mottainai campaign of Wangari Maathai (who seek to reduce and reuse waste). The Kyu-Can-Chu project is a system of collect of cans, one year before expiry date in exchange of a discount on the future purchase of a new stock. Once the cans are collected they are sent to areas hit by a natural or a humanitarian disaster through Japan International Food for the Hungry (A Japanese NGO specialised in the struggle against hunger in the world). The effectiveness of the Kyu-Can-Chu project was tested at full scale for the first time 8 years after being developed, during the 2004 earthquakes that hit Japan

CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

- Pan Akimoto has received local and international awards such as the Japan Venture 2011 Award. - Pan Akimoto became the official supplier of the US Armed Forces and the NASA.