ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that UNY Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Inazawa City, Aichi; Tetsuro Maemura, President; hereinafter “UNY”), Circle K Sunkus Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Motohiko Nakamura, President; hereinafter “Circle K Sunkus”), FamilyMart Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Toshima-ku, Tokyo; Junji Ueda, President & CEO; hereinafter “FamilyMart”), and ITOCHU will launch the first flavors of Nagomi no Ice, a line of exquisite Japanese sweets, as described below. This will be part of the Karada Smile Project, collaboratively planned, developed, and executed by the four companies. In our quest to bring out the deliciousness of Japanese sweets by maximizing the flavor of fresh materials, we have developed a product that uses no milk or eggs.
UNY Group and ITOCHU Group will continue promoting the Karada Smile Project toward the future, providing valuable products and services to our customers.

Name of products

Nagomi no Ice, Kuromitsu Kinako (brown sugar syrup and toasted soybean flour flavor)

Nagomi no Ice, Maccha Azuki (green powdered tea and red bean paste flavor)


As changes in the social landscape continue to witness a growing elderly population, traditional Japanese sweets have recently been attracting attention as a market trend. Against this backdrop, in our desire to offer the taste of authentic Japanese sweets to a wide range of consumers in the category of ice creams, we have combined fresh ingredients to develop ices with the superb flavors unique to Japanese sweets.

Product Outline

Nagomi no Ice Kuromitsu Kinako

Nagomi no Ice Maccha Azuki

About the products

Ice with the chilled deliciousness of Japanese sweets
For moments when we crave Japanese sweets, now we can enjoy them straight from the freezer

1. Our special attention paid to quality
   ・Tastes, flavors and texture of the ingredients can be enjoyed
   ・Drawing out the tastes of the ingredients by combining the flavors
2. Carefully chosen ingredients and their combinations
   We used carefully chosen ingredients and aimed at creating flavors unique to Japanese sweets through flavor combinations that enhance the tastes of these ingredients.
   ●Kuromitsu Kinako

   Carefully chosen kinako	Two types of kinako powder – strong-tasting kurosu kinako and fragrant kuromame kinako – are blended to maximize the flavor of kinako.
   Combination with kinako	A layer of kuromitsu- and mochi-flavored sauces is added. These sauces are outstanding with kinako and bring out its full flavor.

   ●Maccha Azuki

   Carefully chosen maccha	Uji maccha from Kyoto is used. Combining two types of maccha – one tasty and one bitter and sharp – expresses the taste and bitterness of maccha in an excellent balance.
   Combination of maccha and azuki	Azuki, an excellent pairing for maccha, was added. Lightly sweetened azuki maximizes its flavor and texture.

3. Non-use of milk and eggs
   Our desire was to create an ice that enhances the taste and flavor of the ingredients, as with Japanese sweets, and through trial and error we succeeded in bringing out these qualities by eliminating milk and eggs.

Date of launch

Tuesday, October 30, 2012
The products will be on sale nationwide in all branches of Apita and Piago, which handle food items, and all stores of Circle K Sunkus and FamilyMart.

• Available in the following stores: (as of the end of September 2012)
  Apita and Piago (all stores dealing in food items) 　　　　216 stores in total
  Circle K Sunkus (all stores)　　　　　　　 　 6,259 stores in total
  FamilyMart (all stores) 　　　　　　　 　 9,100 stores in total

Karada Smile Project

Founded in January 2008, the Karada Smile Project is a collaboration by four companies – UNY, Circle K Sunkus, FamilyMart and ITOCHU – with the aim of facilitating research and development on healthy products throughout the entire process of their production, starting at the raw material stage, in the context of consumers’ increasing focus on health. Its first product was a lineup of high-fiber, low-calorie breads launched in January 2008, and this was followed by a fiber-rich yogurt. Both products were aggressively renewed in July 2011 and continue to be on sale.