Source: Grunabi website
Osechi-ryori is a traditional Japanese New Year’s meal that consists of a diverse array of traditional Japanese dishes. These dishes are packed into special boxes called jubako, and each item carries symbolic meaning as a New Year’s ornament. For example, black beans symbolize health, herring roe represents prosperity in descendants, and sweet black soybeans (goma-mame) are a symbol of a bountiful harvest.
Gurunavi has developed a “next-generation osechi” utilizing upcycling. This involves transforming discounted premium ingredients into a new value, resulting in osechi dishes where chefs’ ingenuity helps keep prices reasonable. Ingredients that are typically discarded, such as scallop roe, tuna tendons, and sazae (turban shell) liver, are used in this creative process. By incorporating these upcycled ingredients, Gurunavi also contributes to efforts to reduce food waste.
On Gurunavi’s mail-order site, “Gurusuguri,” osechi dishes made with these upcycled ingredients are available for purchase, offering consumers valuable products. Through this initiative, Gurunavi manages to control ingredient costs while contributing to local revitalization.
In response to the impact of soaring prices of premium ingredients, this is a new initiative aimed at delivering valuable “osechi” to consumers while keeping food costs low, even for restaurants that have been forced to raise prices.
With the collaboration of the upscale restaurant “Minamo” in Kita-shinchi, Osaka, skilled artisans have utilized their high-level techniques to create a luxurious New Year’s osechi that is appropriate for celebrating the new year, all while making the most of upcycled ingredients.