Popular ramen chain wants us to recharge with pork broth on the go!

As the days gradually begin to get colder in Japan, Japanese vending machines begin to replace some of their cold cans with hot ones. When this happens, it’s not just hot drinks we have to look forward to, but soups too, and this year, there’s a brand new “soup” coming to town, from world-famous ramen restaurant chain Ippudo.

▼ Ippudo has branches across Asia, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, North America, the U.K. and even France (pictured)

Image © SoraNews24  

Ippudo’s noodles are served in tonkotsu pork bone broth, and according to the chain, the broth is so tasty that many customers say they’d be happy to drink it on its own, without the noodles. Well, now customers are getting what they’ve asked for because after months of fine-tuning and testing, Ippudo have created tonkotsu-broth-in-a-can!

▼ It’s officially called “Koku to Umami no Ippudo Ramen Soup” (Rich and Umami Ippudo Ramen Broth), and is priced at 150 yen (US$1.35).

This is a first for Ippudo, who says they carefully adjusted the amount of oil and salt used in order to make their broth suitable to sip from a can. Unlike their noodles, these cans won’t be available at Ippudo branches, though, as they’re only being sold online and at Acure vending machines inside East Japan Rail train stations.

According to JR East Cross Station Water Business Company, who operates the vending machines, cans of soup are in hot demand during the colder months, so they decided to team up with Ippudo to create a new type of soup, adding to the current range available from Acure machines, which includes:

▼ Mabo Soup in a can…

▼ …Ginger Soy Milk Soup…

▼ …And Japanese Curry in a can.

These types of soups are said to fulfil the “light evening meal needs” of commuters, with research showing that sales of hot soups spike when cold mineral water sales drop.

▼ During the period from 4:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m., soups (red) outsell mineral water (blue).

Ippudo’s canned tonkotsu broth is said to satisfy hunger cravings before dinner, or after a night out drinking, even without noodles or other ingredients. However, its makers also suggest using the canned broth at home to make your own ramen dishes, and you can bet that’s what we’ll be doing when it goes on sale from 12 October.

And if we can find our stash of Ippudo ramen chips, we’ll be set for a starter too.

Source: PR Times
Images: PR Times, unless otherwise stated
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