Next-Generation Natto Meets Coffee Innovation
Jan 19,2023
Jan 19,2023
Natto [fermented soybeans] has long been a staple on Japanese dining tables, and many people eat it daily for breakfast. At the same time, many others dislike it because of its pungent odor and have never tried it.
Natto is also strongly associated with Japan’s unique food culture. Which is likely why few people overseas, apart from those with Japanese roots, have ever tasted natto.
Shonan Soy Studio, on the other hand, is gaining attention for its aim to develop next-generation natto and tell Japan and the world about it. We spoke with Onooka Keita, the CEO of Shonan Soy Studio, and Matsuhashi Akari, the PR manager, about their ambitions.
Shonan Soy Studio’s showroom is located in Oiso, a coastal town in Kanagawa. The wonderfully renovated old house has a kitchen for fermenting and preparing natto. Visitors can sample and purchase products on the veranda.
Greeting us with warm smiles, Onooka and Matsuhashi began by telling us about their products.
CEO Onooka Keita (right) and PR manager Matsuhashi Akari (left) spoke with us
“The first product Shonan Soy Studio developed and commercialized was SOYFFEETM. SOYFFEETM is a natto product made using specially cultivated soybeans from Hokkaido and pure Arabica coffee from Laos. Dried soybeans are soaked in coffee and fermented with natto bacteria. This process eliminates the distinctive natto odor, creating a natto that is more palatable for those who dislike natto and for people overseas.”
Onooka spent his student years in Los Angeles and New York. There, he saw that many people recognized and purchased soy products labeled miso and tofu as health foods in organic supermarkets. He also noticed that people were interested in natto for its high nutritional value, but many avoided it because of its smell. Wanting to make an odorless natto, Onooka experimented endlessly before finally hitting on the recipe for SOYFFEETM.
“We tried combining natto with all kinds of ingredients like black tea, green tea, and basil, looking for a way to eliminate its odor. But it was natto made using coffee that our overseas friends unfamiliar with natto said was delicious. The flavor of the coffee helps SOYFFEETM go well with sweets. It’s delicious on its own, of course, but having it with cream is a whole other level of deliciousness.”
As he spoke, Onooka suggested we try the SOYFFEETM Original Double. And just like he described, it had the sticky texture of natto, but without its characteristic odor, with the faintly sweet flavor of coffee. SOYFFEETM is made with large-grain soybeans, and the natural deliciousness of the soybeans themselves really stands out. It was hard to imagine the taste of the novel combination of natto plus coffee before trying it, but the two ingredients blended perfectly and paired exceptionally well with cream.
“Our SOYFFEETM Original Honey is also quite popular. It adds local Shonan raw honey to SOYFFEETM Original Double. The added sweetness makes it a wonderful match for all kinds of sweets.
“We also sell sweets that change each week featuring SOYFFEETM Original Double combined with red bean paste or cream and then layered in a chiffon cake or used as a pudding topping.”
Just as Matsuhashi said, the subtle sweetness and fluffy soybean flavor of SOYFFEETM are sure to create all kinds of delicious tastes depending on what ingredients they are paired with.
Onooka Keita, who is also in charge of production says: “This is a chiffon cake with coffee-flavored cream and SOYFFEETM. SOYFFEETM goes well with creamy foods, and it tastes great as a topping on smooth-textured puddings.”
Onooka describes some of their other products. “We have extended the original SOYFFEETM into SOYFFEETM Roasted, which is dried at a low temperature, and powdered SOYFFEETM Powder+. We currently offer SOYFFEETM Powder+ in six flavors, including Veggie Bowl, which mixes in hemp seeds and oregano, and Spicy Lover, which adds chili powder, shiitake, Korean perilla, and other ingredients to the base SOYFFEETM. We plan to add new flavors in the near future. We recommend SOYFFEETM Powder+ as a topping for soups, salads, and many other kinds of dishes.”
While SOYFFEETM caters to those who are not fans of natto’s smell, NATTO JERKY is a snack for those who love the taste and flavor of natto. It has been well received ever since its launch.
“We launched NATTO JERKY as a line of healthy junk food snacks,” says Onooka. “It’s made by fermenting flavored soybeans with natto bacteria and then drying them slowly at low temperatures. We offer two flavors: soy sauce and pepper garlic. Although it’s a snack alternative to potato chips, it’s very healthy since it’s essentially all natto.”
When you grab them with your fingers, they feel like nuts and the beans stick together, but they aren’t so sticky that they cling to your fingers. The taste and flavor are unmistakably that of natto.
NATTO JERKY (left), Roasted Chocolate Block (center) — a vegan chocolate developed in collaboration with the Kyoto chocolate maker Dari K, and SOYFFEETM Original Double (right)
Matsuhashi is particularly partial to NATTO JERKY Soy Sauce. “The soy sauce version uses a rich soy sauce that has been aged in wooden barrels. It’s especially popular among women. The pepper garlic flavor, on the other hand, has a bold garlic kick. It’s more popular among men and goes perfectly with a beer.”
When we tried it, the NATTO JERKY Soy Sauce definitely had an attractive texture and addictive taste that makes you want to keep on nibbling.
“Compared to a typical 100 gram snack, NATTO JERKY has less than half the fat with a very high 32 grams or so of protein. The ingredients are very simple: just soybeans, natto bacteria, soy sauce, and coarse sugar. As a plant-based jerky, it’s popular with vegans and health-conscious people, and many people choose it as a gift or a treat to take to home parties.”
Natto is well known as a healthy food. The food forms when natto bacteria break down soybean proteins, producing amino acids. Natto bacteria act as beneficial gut flora and promote intestinal activity, making them good for gut health. Additionally, nattokinase, an enzyme contained in natto bacteria, is known for its blood-thinning effects. Onooka explains that they carefully consider these nutritional aspects during production and commercialization.
“Natto bacteria are fairly heat tolerant up to about 120°C, when they start to die off. Nattokinase, however, die at around 50°C. We take these into account in our production processes for SOYFFEETM Roasted and NATTO JERKY.
“For example, NATTO JERKY is dried for a long time at temperatures below 50°C. We take steps like these to craft new, delicious food products that retain all of natto’s nutritional value.”
The sleek, sophisticated package designs of Shonan Soy Studio products are another point of differentiation from the impression of traditional natto.
“Our in-house designers and illustrators are in charge of the product illustrations and packages. When we set about rebranding fermented soybean products, it was important to enhance the design experience, along with the product concepts and tastes, to get consumers to choose our products. The design sensibility is a key consideration to make our products more appealing to younger consumers as innovative soy products.”
Using its own experience, Shonan Soy Studio now supports packaging design and production for other producers of traditional fermented foods.
“We grew up in this area, so we’ve had environmental awareness ingrained in us since childhood through such things as beach cleanups. So it was perfectly natural for us to choose eco-friendly packaging, such as reusable glass bottles and paper,” says Onooka.
Soy Brewery is a take-out shop in Chigasaki where you can enjoy drinks and food made with Shonan Soy Studio products
A fermented teriyaki & mayo burrito, prepared with brown rice, soy meat, green leaf lettuce, and other fillings, and a miso-flavored latte. The fermented sauce, which includes SOYFFEETM Powder, is the key to the fermented burrito’s flavor.
In the three years since the launch of SOYFFEETM Original Double, Onooka has developed several product lines based on SOYFFEETM as well as launched NATTO JERKY. What drives him to continue innovating and coming up with new concepts?
“Fundamentally, the reason I started my business was the desire to eliminate opportunity divides. Many Japanese people are fortunate to have opportunities to study when they want to study, to eat delicious food when they want to, and to travel when they want to. However, there are many people who cannot do these things. I have always wanted to bridge these opportunity divides. This business I started using natto was one means to achieve that.
“This is why we run the Bite for BiteTM project [each bite you take becomes a bite for someone else in the world]. Under this project, we donate a portion of our sales so that more people can lead healthier lives. So far, we have donated soybeans to children’s cafeterias in Japan and similar child nutrition programs in Laos.”
People who share this vision are growing in number, both in the company and outside too. It is this massive energy that drives Shonan Soy Studio to come up with many new initiatives.
“Our next step is to expand Shonan Soy Studio products internationally. We want to explore ways to make our products overseas rather than exporting them from Japan, out of consideration for food mileage. We will start in Los Angeles and New York, where I have connections, and eventually aim to spread our products worldwide,” says Onooka. His natto plus coffee concept not only has created new delicious health foods but also is bringing smiles to people around the world.
At the Oiso Showroom, you can enjoy fermented sweets made with SOYFFEETM (reservations taken via Instagram DM), sample and purchase SOYFFEETM by weight, and experience Laotian coffee available for donation.
A soy and fermentation take-out café where you can eat and drink to improve your gut health.