Home Bread Makers Selling Well in Japan

Tokyo, July 25 (Jiji Press)--Home bread makers are selling well in
Japan as consumer electronics manufacturers are racing to launch new
equipment with advanced functions.
According to the Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association,
domestic shipments in the year ended in March jumped some 30 pct from the
previous year to some 450,000 units. Shipments for the year to March 2011
are projected at 600,000 units.
The manufacturers' strategies that add new functions to bread
makers are successful. The device first hit store shelves in Japan in 1987
and the boom at the time ended quickly because the appliance was able to
make only sandwich loaf.
But recent models can make a variety of food items such as rice
cake and "udon" noodles as well.
Market leader Panasonic Corp. <9752> will launch in September a
device that can make French bread, while running the Bakery Club online
recipe site.
Sanyo Electric Co. <6752>, a Panasonic unit, will release in
October what it claims is the world's first device capable of making a loaf
of bread from grains of rice instead of flour for some 50,000 yen, higher
than conventional models.
Sanyo President Seiichiro Sano said that the company expects to
sell 200,000 units of the Gopan bread maker globally in the year starting
next April.
Groupe SEB Japan, which sells the T-fal brand of flying pans and
other cookware, started selling a 1,200-watt bread maker in April.
Also behind the popularity of bread makers are that an increasing
number of Web sites and books offer recipes, according to industry watchers.
Among them, Kobunsha Co.'s recipe book has sold some 330,000 copies
since it was published in 2008.
Chikanori Ogyu, managing editor of the publisher, said home bread
makers are an appliance that helps consumers enhance creative efforts.
Some consumers unveil new recipes on blogs or submit their ideas to
cooking magazine publishers.