Possible applications

In the short term, we believe that “Kuraban” can contribute to accomplish the following three goals:
(1) To increase sales opportunities by decreasing the volume of food loss such as deteriorated fish and vegetables.
(2) To add value to fishery (sea food) and agricultural products.
(3) To expand exportable market and create new business opportunities.

In the medium term, it will increase the income level of fishermen, farmers and other people concerned including exporters.
In the long term, “Kuraban” will develop fishery and agricultural industry by strengthening their competitiveness, increasing the value of fishery and agricultural products and expanding the market.

Competitive advantage

“Kuraban” has a great advantage in the refrigeration technology which enables to keep fishery and agricultural products fresh in a long period of time. It reduces cost in freezing and defrosting by providing refrigeration technology.
By applying an electric field in the refrigerator using a N-Te-Fe (see Fig. 2) energy system, it is possible to carry out refrigeration storage for a long period of time without freezing food even under freezing point as well as performing antibacterial and oxidation control.
The effect of the system is to achieve 3 to 10 times longer-term preservation than conventional refrigerators.
                                                                   Fig. 2 Images of N-TeFe device

This will contribute to develop an advanced cold chain with an affordable cost. Initial expense will only be purchasing “Kuraban” and electronic fee which “Kuraban” and space parts require to run.

Performance

It enables to maintain freshness of products 3 times to 10 times longer than regular refrigerators.

                                                                 Fig. 3 Specification of Kuraban

                                                                Table 1 Advantages of Kuraban

Technical maturity / Past record of introduction

FY18: 35 units (31 in Japan and 4 in foreign countries (Thai, New Zealand and Morocco)) as of January 2019

Application at installed sites:
Steak House: Long-term preservation of meat, provision of aged meat
Hotels: Maintenance of freshness of food, Compression of food loss
Butcher: Production of aged meat
Japanese restaurant: Long-term preservation of meat and Fish, production of aged meat
Soba Shop: Long-term storage of Soba to improve process efficiency
Sweets Shop: Keep purchase price by long-term preservation of strawberries

Information on patent related to this technology

Patent No. 3747218 (JP)

International operation

Modality of business transaction

Direct investment
Core components which produce N-TeFe energy will be exported from MARS Company (Japan), and Commercial refrigerator and other components are selected from local companies and assemble them at local factory. Investment for Establish local factories and support bases will be made with MARS and partner company in the company and its partner companies in Japan or local company.

Partnership
Local Partner will import core components which produce N-TeFe energy from MARS Company (Japan), and assemble it with local refrigerators and other components at local factory. The local partner has also responsibility to set up service and maintenance network and MARS Company will provide local companies with technical guidance necessary for service and maintenance.

Schematic illustration of the technology

Kuraban Product Video

Japanese version

French version