Osaka, Japan-based Nissin Foods is offering a plant-based eel product as one of several prizes in a marketing campaign the firm has dubbed “Cup Noodle Quest II,” which will run through January 2025.
The campaign allows consumers to scan a QR code on the inside of Nissin Cup Noodle lids to collect points and then use them to apply for prizes, including the plant-based eel product, spiny lobsters, wagyu beef, and even electronics.
The company ran a similar campaign last year, and after finding success in its first run, Nissin has introduced a new assortment of prizes in this year’s edition.
The eel analog, primarily made from granulated soy protein, was first announced in May 2023. When 500 sets of the product were released through the company’s online store, most sold out in the first minute, according to the firm.
The firm later offered the eel substitute in a cup as “Nazo Unagi Don,” or “Mystery Eel Rice Bowl,” in limited areas.
One of the reasons behind the firm offering an eel substitute is that Japanese eel was listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2014, with that status being renewed in 2020. Many of Japan’s traditional eel shops have closed, though eel is still offered seasonally by convenience stores, supermarkets, and rice bowl chains.
Due to that listing, some researchers have taken a different approach and have closely studied and achieved closed-cycle breeding of Japanese eels.
Japan’s Fisheries Research Agency (FRA) first succeeded in 2010, and Kindai University replicated the work in 2024. However, the current process is labor-intensive as it entails feeding the eels by hand five times a day and carefully removing excess feed to ensure water quality remains high, making it difficult to scale up the entire process affordably.
So, many companies around the world are exploring substitutes made from soy or lab-grown cells instead.
Besides Nissin, New York City, New York, U.S.A.-based Ocean Hugger Foods offers plant-based eel made from eggplant, soy sauce, mirin, and algae oil to mimic traditional eel's flavor and texture. Rehovot, Israel-based Forsea Foods is working on a cell-based eel product, aiming for commercialization by 2025, and Ness Ziona, Israel-based Steakholder Foods recently introduced a 3D-printed vegan eel with plans to incorporate cultured eel cells in the future for hybrid products.
Nissin, compared to the other firms, has the added benefit of being based in Japan, where interest in plant-based food has continued to grow.
