Convenience Store Updates: 1/29/17

Seven Eleven is the largest retailer in Japan, which especially has the larger market share in the East Japan. 

In the convenience store industry where the competition is becoming ever-increasingly intense in the last 10 years, this leading player has made great efforts to keep its position, especially in its sweets & desert lineup.

Mitarashi Dango / Seven Eleven

The item I'm introducing to you today is also one example of their efforts, which is named "Smoky & flavorful Mitarashi Dango". 

Firstly, Mitarashi Dango is our traditional sweets, which consists of a couple of bite-size rice cake balls & soy sauce based syrupy sauce.

New interpretation

This is not everyday sweets for most Japanese, but we've eaten this from time to time, particularly when we join some festivals or visit a local shrine at the beginning of a new year. 

The ones you see there are all skewered & that's the conventional form of this dish. However, Seven Eleven adopted more radical approach. They simply packed 5 pieces of dango rice cake & sauce without skewering them. 

Targeted demographic 

In fact, the biggest downside with typical dango is its inconvenience in eating, especially for women. As it could easily damage their make-up or leave a stain on their clothes, female workers have never been the target customers of this sweets at a convenience store or grocery store.

In order to change the situation, the brand made every piece a bit smaller & thinner, again with no skewer. Maybe this has also brought a operational benefit. 

My feedback 

If you like traditional Mitarashi Dango (which has a more chewy texture), this is not for you. As rice cake is quite soft, this could be categorized as a different type of sweets. 

But it doesn't necessarily mean this isn't worthy. Taste itself is absolutely good & as its package says, the sauce is certainly flavorful. 

And more than anything else, considering its reasonable price of ¥125 (just $1!), this could be a great start for your Japanese sweets adventure in Tokyo!

Just get this at a Seven Eleven store with coffee & unpack at a park near your hotel!

Thanks for reading.

Posted by 3e-Tokyo