Japanese Ice Cream Flavours
October 29 2008, 7:32pm
Just thought I'd share these with you
I was lucky enough to not put the contents of these cartons anywhere near my face or mouth. They were simply on display, rather proudly, in a place called "Ice Cream City" in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.
Crab Flavour Ice Cream
I can aaaaalmoooosstttt see this one working. Crab has quite sweet flesh and is often paired with heavy cream to make salads, mousses and stuff. Not sure I'd want to chug down a whole tub of crab-infused frozen cream, but in minute doses this might not be entirely disgusting, which is more than I can say for...
Squid Ice Cream
There must be something about seafood and ice cream that makes lightbulbs flash wildly in the brains of the Japanese.
Abalone Ice Cream
Presumably attempting to capitalise on the massive popularity of squid ice cream, this company goes one better and does Abalone flavour. Abalone has a much more robust, meaty taste than the above two seafood items. It's a small step away from hotdog ice cream or beef stroganoff sorbet, both of which I think I'd rather eat than Abalone ice cream.
Silk Ice Cream
Now you've really lost me. As those of you who regularly chow down on sheets of silk will undoubtedly know, silk doesn't actually have a flavour. I have no idea what this ice cream would taste like, besides of course cream. I like how the most appetising visual they can come up with for "silk" on the lid is the sails of a sailboat. That's right, you too can now enjoy the delicious taste of sail, whenever you want.
Nattou Ice Cream
Obviously made as a joke and only to be eaten as a bet. This may be the world's worst food item. Here's a very old blog entry where I describe what nattou is. Now imagine that, but mixed up with cream, frozen and stuck in a cone for it to drip nattou stink all over your fingers as you gingerly lick at it, grimacing and praying for death. Who would eat this. They must be killed with fire.
Garlic Ice Cream
It does have a cool design though. Since I'm obviously a materialistic, form over function apple-loving fanboy I would probably eat this.
Charcoal Ice Cream
Just think, no more 2nd degree burns from licking those hot embers after the barbecue! What the hell. Behold everyone, the ice cream manufacturer's equivalent of the long tail, in photo form.
But...
That last point was a serious one though, folks. For anyone who reads marketing / brand building books, serving the long tail is one way to be successful in these days of incumbent "superbrands" (e.g. Haagen Dazs) who you have no hope of usurping.
I'm sitting here laughing at the companies making these ice creams, and probably you are too, but their strategy of selling to niche markets is most likely paying off an order of magnitude more than if they tried to enter the market with a "newer, better tasting vanilla!" flavour. Something to think about, that.
