Shironama breads shake up the Japanese convenience store food scene.

Back in 2023, Family Mart released a range of “Nama Koppepan” that became a hit with customers. With “nama” meaning “fresh” or “raw”, the range consisted of long bread rolls, or “koppepan”, that were especially soft and moist, with a creamy texture that drove customers wild.

▼ Family Mart’s Nama Koppepan were so popular over 260 million were sold.

Now, the Japanese convenience store chain is bringing its super-soft breads back with a new range called “Shironama“. With “shiro” meaning “white”, these breads have a whole new look that makes them appear even more “raw” than before, and this time the range serves up three different types of bread — koppepan, Francepan, and a croissant.

With a look that makes it seem as if they’re yet to touch an oven, these are very unusual breads, and we were lucky enough to be sent all three for a taste test.

▼ Let’s start the proceedings with the Shironama Koppepan.

Koppepan takes its name from “coupé”, the French word for “cut”, and combines it with “pan”, the Japanese word for bread. While it might look like a bun you’d make hot dogs with, it’s commonly filled with all sorts of ingredients in Japan, from red bean paste through to yakisoba noodles, and it’s close to everyone’s hearts as children grow up eating this style of bread as part of their school lunches.

It never looks as quite as white as this, though, so we were a bit nervous when we took it out of the bag, but those nerves soon dissipated when we were greeted by a soft filling of whipped cream and strawberry cream with crushed strawberry pulp. The acidity and sweetness was perfectly well balanced, and the pillowy soft, chewy texture of the bread made this a heavenly pairing.

▼ Moving on to the next item in the range, we have the Shironama Croissant.

With a look that would make French pastry purists shudder, this is likely to be the most divisive item in the range, because not only is it a lot paler than a traditional croissant, it’s a lot less crispy, with nothing but a soft chewiness the whole way through. Looking past the sacrilegious aspect of it all, the soft texture blends well with the sweet double-chocolate cream centre while maintaining the laminated look of the pastry in an impressive way.

▼ Finally, we have the Shironama Francepan.

“Francepan“, or “French bread“, usually refers to a crusty style of bread in Japan, but this range turns that theory on its head by doing away with the crunch and going all in on softness. While it mimics the look and shape of Francepan, the airy softness gives it a whole new mouthfeel, messing with your mind and your taste buds while seducing them with the sweetness of Hokkaido Double Condensed Milk and whipped cream as its filling.

While the soft texture of the bread will definitely surprise you, the fillings are just as special, with the cream centres giving you a choice of either strawberry in the koppepan, chocolate in the croissant or plain milk in the Francepan.

It’s a very Japanese take on traditional bread, and every item in the range is designed to make you feel as if you’re eating a cloud, as shown in the accompanying commercial for the collection.

The breads retail for 168 yen (US$1.12) each and can be purchased at Family Mart branches around Japan from 25 March.

Related: Family Mart
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