Japanese convenience stores are not generally associated with offering options for a healthy diet, particularly one that caters to the nutritional needs of senior citizens. But perhaps their image is due to change. An article in Nikkan Gendai (28 August) stated that compared with 1989, when customers aged 50 and over accounted only for 9% of convenience store patrons, in 2013 the figure had risen to 30%, exceeding those of the teenage and twenties demographics.
A growing perception that convenience stores are strict in terms of their quality control and that they place high emphasis on freshness were the reasons given for the upsurge in older patrons.
The chain stores have upped efforts to target seniors. In April 2014, Lawson, for example, opened its first branch containing a nursing care consultation desk in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture.
To facilitate readability, larger, more readable printing is featured on a greater number of product labels. These give detailed information on price, volume and nutritional content, such as “sugar free” or “uses no preservatives or food colouring”.
A spokesperson for the firm said Lawson stores are stocking bread with bran, which appeals to dieters due to its low carbohydrate and high dietary fibre content.
“We’re working to support more middle-aged customers concerned with lifestyle-related diseases”, the spokesperson said. He added that some baked goods are topped with quinoa, a gluten-free grain native to South America said to be high in essential amino acids and so-called rare sugars.
“Our stores offer about 10 varieties of products. Over the past several years, sales have been increasing”, he said.
Likewise, a Family Mart spokesperson told Nikkan Gendai: “In Kansai, we have launched sales of grilled salmon with Okinawan-style goya-champuru (tofu combined with egg, pork and bitter melon) each month. The recipe was developed under the supervision of a nutritionist at a Kobe hospital. To appeal to the healthy eating trend, we are also reducing the salt in the broth of oden (a hodgepodge of ingredients) and mixing vegetables into the fish cakes and tofu in the dish”.