ROHTO RECIPE Chayamachi store begins offering a new menu item, "A Lunch That Will Energize Your Eyes," using high-lutein eggs, "Recipe Carefully Selected Gourmet Eggs."

The story behind the creation of the new menu item, "A Lunch That Will Energize Your Eyes."

Rohto Pharmaceutical Group's food brand, "ROHTO RECIPE," offers healthy and sustainable meals. This time, we decided to adopt the "Recipe" developed by MEC Foods because it aligns with our shared belief that "health starts with food," and MEC Foods focuses on nutrients that can be obtained from eggs, which are used daily.
"Recipe" eggs contain approximately three times the normal amount of lutein, a nutrient beneficial for the eyes. Rohto Pharmaceutical Group, which aims to be a leading company in eye care, is also paying attention to this ingredient, and has decided to develop new dishes and sweets using these eggs at the "ROHTO RECIPE Chayamachi Store."

About "Lunches that energize your eyes"

The new menu items available at "ROHTO RECIPE Chayamachi Store" are as follows. They will be available from October 10th (Tuesday), "Eye Care Day," until October 31st (Tuesday).

A visually appealing lunch set (with crème caramel): 1,750 yen (tax included)

1. "Recipe" Caesar salad with boiled eggs
2. Three seasonal daily deli items, soup, and blueberry scones.
3. A lunch set made with crème caramel using a "recipe".

• "Recipe: Carefully Selected Gourmet Eggs" Caesar Salad with Boiled Eggs

  This colorful salad features kale, bell peppers, and radicchio, topped with a lutein-rich boiled egg from "Recipe," and finished with pearl barley, cracked soybeans, goji berries, and a soy milk Caesar dressing. You can get 10mg of lutein from "Recipe" and the kale, and 2mg of zeaxanthin from the bell peppers and goji berries.

• Three seasonal daily deli items, soup, and blueberry scones.

  This lunch set from ROHTO RECIPE includes seasonal deli items, a medicinal soup with ingredients that change every two weeks (according to the 24 solar terms), and blueberry scones.

• Crème caramel made with "Recipe: Carefully Selected Gourmet Eggs"

  Crème Caramel is a classic pudding made with approximately one "recipe," mirin, and amazake. It features the gentle sweetness of wasanbon sugar and is carefully baked in-house.

About "Recipe: Carefully Selected Gourmet Eggs"

"Recipe" eggs contain approximately three times more lutein, a nutrient beneficial for the eyes, than conventional eggs, and are absorbed by the body about three times more efficiently than lutein supplements. After approximately three years of research, MEC Foods developed and commercialized this product, focusing on lutein as an essential nutrient for all generations, especially for modern people who overuse their eyes with computers and smartphones, as part of their efforts to develop a product unlike anything previously seen in the chicken egg industry.

In addition, it contains approximately 1.5 times more folic acid, a nutrient that modern people, especially pregnant women and women, tend to lack; approximately 3 times more vitamin D, which helps with calcium absorption; and approximately 7 times more vitamin E, which helps prevent cell aging. *1​

We use a special flavorful feed containing marigolds (from the Asteraceae family), seaweed, mugwort, and wood vinegar (a natural ingredient extracted from trees), ensuring that the eggs are delicious.
In August 2023, "Recipe" received the Gold Award at the Japan Food Selection, Japan's first comprehensive evaluation and certification system specializing in food and ingredients, based on consumer feedback.

At "ROHTO RECIPE Chayamachi Store," the "Recipe" will also be used for other dishes and sweets that use eggs. In addition, restaurants operated by Rohto Pharmaceutical's partner companies will also adopt the "Recipe," and MEC Foods plans to ship a total of approximately 50,000 units per month. "ROHTO RECIPE Chayamachi Store" is the first restaurant to adopt the "Recipe" and develop new menu items using it.

*1: This is the result of a survey conducted by MEC Foods.

About ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Rohto Wellcoat Co., Ltd.

Rohto Pharmaceutical has adopted "a pharmaceutical company that doesn't rely on drugs" as one of its core business pillars, and has launched a new food brand called "ROHTO RECIPE" that proposes healthy and sustainable meals based on the concept of "feeling energized from the bottom of your stomach." Its flagship store, "ROHTO RECIPE Chayamachi Store," opened in January 2023.
(https://www.rohto.co.jp/)

• ROHTO RECIPE

About MEC Foods Co., Ltd.

MEC Foods Co., Ltd. (established December 1992) is a group company of the Maruto Group, a comprehensive livestock food company centered around Toyohashi Feed Co., Ltd. (founded in 1931), which manufactures and sells compound feed. MEC Foods handles everything from chick rearing and egg production and manufacturing to the sale of processed egg products. The Maruto Group comprehensively manages everything from "compound feed production" to "livestock rearing and supply" and "processing and sales of livestock products," delivering safe, secure, and fresh food to your table.
(https://mec-foods.com/)

• Sales: 9.2 billion yen (FY2022 results)
• Number of employees: Approximately 170 (as of September 2023)