Well, here’s a good one. Jelly fish cookies are a real thing and they are flying off the shelves. The incredible edibles were developed by a place (seriously named) Obama Fisheries High School and Fukui-based gift retailer Keifuku Shoji Co.
I THINK THEY ARE READY FOR THIS JELLY
After hitting the market last October, more than 20,000 jelly fish, aka Ekura-chan cookies have been sold, far exceeding sales expectations. The baked cookies–made of huge Echizen kurage jellyfish that is reportedly a nuisance to fishermen–also hit the shelves at a department store in Osaka’s Minami district.
THE STUDENTS BLENDED AND GOT BAKED
To find ways to commercialize untapped marine resources, students at the fisheries school’s food industry department have since been developing tofu and fruit punch using jellyfish. While developing these products, the students hit on the idea of turning jellyfish essence into a baking powder, which is reportedly odorless and tastes like bird. Keifuku Shoji approached the school to jointly commercialize products made from jellyfish. The students whipped up test batches of cookies containing the jellyfish powder and eventually developed the bestselling recipe.
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JELLYFISH RETURNS HUGE PROFIT
A box of 10 cookies costs 580 yen ($5 USD) and are sold at gift shops in Obama and at kiosks at JR Fukui Station. The cookies were also sold at a department store in Osaka as part of an exhibit of Fukui Prefecture products. Keifuku Shoji, which targeted sales of 10,000 cookies a year, has seen that figure double in just the first six months.
NOT PROFESSIONAL, NO PROBLEM
Four second-year students from the fisheries school staffed the sales counter. They touted the health-promoting collagen and minerals contained in the jellyfish cookies. “Customers said the cookies tasted great,” says Marina Furukawa, 17, who helped with the sales. The fisheries school plans to begin in May developing desserts baked with jellyfish powder for such products as jelly and rice cakes. The FDA will surely approve this.
