Food-softening machine allows all the family to enjoy same meals

Maybe something for your speech therapist if you have swallowing issues.

Food-softening machine allows all the family to enjoy same meals 

KYOTO--When Megumi Ogawa served meals designed for patients with a swallowing disorder to her father, he would refuse to eat and become grumpy.

“Food was a source of joy left for my dad, who could not move his body,” said Ogawa, 49. “He loved beef but could not consume it. I wanted to do something for him.”

So, Ogawa, who works at Panasonic Corp., sought the advice of a senior official she worked with at the company's plant in the Kansai region.

The official, Tokie Mizuno, quickly agreed that they should create a new home cooker for individuals troubled by the same problem.

Many food products targeting patients who have difficulty swallowing have been released to offer a greater variety of tastes and materials, but they can't be compared with their homemade counterparts.

“My grandmother lived to be 116, but always stuck to homemade dishes and had food my mother cooked until her last moment,” said Mizuno, 55. “Many people want to continue consuming meals made at home.”

As the two women had no experience in product development, they dedicated themselves to researching microwave ovens and pressure cookers at a meeting room in the plant. Their goal was to make a product that would soften food while maintaining its shape.

They also visited nursing care facilities to conduct interviews on holidays to assess the demand for such an item, if it was put on the market. 

All those efforts paid off when Ogawa and Mizuno won an in-house business project competition in 2016. But their brainchild did not come to fruition at the time.

This was because a certain level of unit sales and novelty are required for new products to be introduced and sold under the Panasonic brand. Officials decided that the market size and technological standards for a softener cooker were not enough.

Ogawa and Mizuno remained undeterred, and started soliciting those willing to join them. A circle was set up to pursue potential home appliances to assist in nursing care, enlisting the support of Masaru Morizane, 36, and other engineers.

Every time Ogawa became discouraged because of the lack of prospects for commercialization, Mizuno said to her, “we should do our best since we are weeds that rise up again no matter how many times we are stepped on.”

Mizuno continued, “Hardship will add spice to future happiness. Customers are waiting for our product.”

The patient endeavor of Ogawa and Mizuno finally paid off in April 2019, when a new electronics company, called Gifmo Co., was established in Kyoto with the support of a fund affiliated with Panasonic. Morizane became president of Gifmo.

Ogawa and Mizuno were assigned to Gifmo so they could concentrate on their own project at the firm’s headquarters within a two-story private home. The main office was set up in such a place because Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Panasonic, started his business using the first floor of his own residence as a workplace.

An electric pressure cooker produced at a Panasonic factory in China was upgraded to develop the food softening equipment. The factory is now also commissioned to manufacture the softener.

As soon as the product, designed like a rice cooker, hit the market under the name DeliSofter for 43,000 yen ($415), before taxes, in late July last year, it instantly sold the 100 units procured for initial sales. 

The equipment can soften various materials to give dysphagia patients the chance to share what their families are eating. The same technology as the pressure cooker is used to treat veggies and meat in 15 minutes and 30 minutes, respectively.

TABLE TURNS CHEERFUL

The special cooker has already proven a godsend for those who are  struggling to swallow food due to their health problems and age but are tired of easier-to-consume but insipid ready-made meals sold at grocery stores and elsewhere.

Chiharu Toyota, 36, a resident of Yokohama, said her 5-year-old eldest son Tokio has brightened up thanks to the DeliSofter, while seated at the dining table.

As Tokio has cerebral palsy and cannot swallow food smoothly, Chiharu would crush ingredients in a mixer and filter them through a sieve to convert meals into paste. The process took considerable time and Tokio did not like the finished dishes.

“He wanted to have the same things as other family members,” Chiharu said.

Buying a DeliSofter last summer drastically changed her household’s daily life. Foodstuffs processed in it can be chewed with the tongue and gum, whereas their flavors and shapes are not altered.

Tokio can now chew and swallow pieces of steak brought to his mouth. Tokio was so captivated with the “tasty” meal that he quickly responded when asked whether he wanted a second helping, bringing smiles all around the table.

No fewer than 100 dishes, including “manju” buns and “karaage” fried chicken, can be processed by the DeliSofter.

“Tokio has begun looking forward to having meals and has put on weight,” said Chiharu. “Our family’s quality of life has dramatically improved. I had never come across such a home appliance that has made us feel so complete inside.”

SURGING DEMAND

According to research firm Yano Research Institute Ltd., demand for softened meals is on a rapid increase. The market scale of food mainly for consumers in need of nursing care reached 73.4 billion yen in fiscal 2018, 1.4 times that of four years previously.

As the demand is expected to further expand, food makers are moving to refine their products’ flavors and textures. However, it is still difficult for them to reproduce the taste of being homemade.

Ogawa’s father died four years ago before he could enjoy specialties prepared at home with a DeliSofter, but Ogawa remains positive. She is dreaming of pitching a new product to make beverages safer to swallow and expanding the sales network outside Japan.

“I would like to contribute to creating a nursing care environment where people say thank you instead of sorry,” said Ogawa. “I will develop home electronics for nursing care to make that dream come true.”

For inquiries on the DeliSofter, visit the special website at: https://gifmo.co.jp/delisofter/ (in Japanese).