The annual Foodex Japan is one of  Asia’s largest food and drinks fairs. Foodex is the go-to event for  Japanese and foreign companies to network and show off their products . . . and for everyone else to sample their wares.

The biggest queues at the show seemed to be for the Charmy Snow Ice booth, a Taiwanese company, Charmy make a peculiar kind of ice cream that looks a bit like cotton candy and tastes incredibly sweet. Charmy launched in Japan in 2008 but other companies, such as Kinokuni Gelato and Kita no Watayuki, are also getting in on the action with similar products.

We’re expecting to see more and more franchises of Charmy et. al opening up across Japan in the coming year. Judging by the shocking pink signs, the target consumers of snow ice are teenage girls with a sweet tooth.

For those of us who are a little more wary of piling on the pounds, Soycom Ltd. have launched a range of doughnuts made with soybean flour in healthy pumpkin, spinach and ginseng flavours. Instead of being deep fried, these donuts are baked for extra healthiness, however, after sampling these low-fat numbers, I wasn’t quite ready to kick my Mr. Donut habit. Soybean donuts are healthy, though, they didn't seem too tasty.

Soybeans are definitely the versatile ingredient du jour; there was even a healthy coffee on display made from smoked green soybeans made by Ryokokushoji Co. that’s due to be released on the market in April.

Also popular, though obviously not as an ingredient, was the legendary samarai leader Sakamoto Ryoma, whose famous image could be seen  gracing packets of curry. Ryoma Legend Curry was launched in December last year obviously to cash in on the NHK series “Ryomaden.”

Elsewhere, Sakamoto was being used to promote Sasebo Burgers and an actor dressed up as the atypical samurai was tasked with handing out leaflets advertising the chain. Wonder who gets all the merchandising money?

At the snacks front there are Ginbis’ Medetai biscuits coming  up this month. The fish shaped biscuits were created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Taiyaki, the name being a play on the words medotou (congratulations) and taiyaki (the name of the fish shaped snack). Coming in white and plain chocolate flavors, the biscuits are very delicious.

Also previewed were Moomin brand biscuits from Hokka, which are due out at the end of the month. Given the popularity of Moomin characters, these biscuits are bound to get gobbled up.

In terms of innovation, Yaokin released their crushed pretzel snack a couple of weeks ago. Pretzels are a relatively new snack to Japan and this is the first time I’ve seen the pretzel in this broken format.

Another smart innovation came from Ronga Food’s. Their Crepe Sticks were released March 1, and are head and shoulders above the competition. Sweet crepes are hugely popular in Japan, with shops selling the freshly made version enjoying massive queues; Ronga cleverly adapted the snack into a convenience store food format. (JapanPulse)