A thorough comparison of the “taste and price” of sausage wieners, the “friend of the common people! In addition to meat quality, the key is “salt and spices

A pioneer in the industry

Everything that tastes good has a sound.

About 40 years ago, Nippon Ham introduced “Chiawesen” with such a catchphrase, changing the way people ate.

The wiener is a product that spread throughout Japan in the postwar period. During the period of rapid economic growth, Japanese manufacturers learned German manufacturing techniques and began to sell authentic pork sausages. While in Europe and the U.S., minced raw meat is often used, in Japan, coarsely ground wieners, which are packed with the manufacturer’s unique know-how, have gained support.

The kick-start of this trend was “Chowessen. The casing (wiener skin) was made of natural sheep’s intestine and stuffed with coarsely ground pork, creating a crispy texture. Since then, companies have competed with each other to develop products centering on coarsely ground pork, and the technology has evolved,” said Masahiko Suneya, executive director of the Japan Ham and Sausage Industry Cooperative Association, an industry group.

The red wiener casings that were common in Showa-era households were made with artificial skin made from collagen extracted from cow skin and other sources, and little emphasis was placed on the enjoyment of texture. That is why the texture of Chawesen using natural sheep intestine casing was fresh for consumers.

It was also Schaussen that advocated the “boiled and eaten” concept in the wiener industry, where “fried and eaten” had been the norm up until then. Nippon Ham, the company that developed this epoch-making product, is now the leader in the sausage industry with an annual production of approximately 300,000 tons. What in the world is so special about the taste of Schaussen? Mr. Takahiro Ezawa, director of the Japan Beer Sommelier Association and an expert on the wiener industry, explains.

At 1.9 grams of salt per 100 grams, it has a higher salt content than other companies, which enhances the flavor of the meat and fat. Until 25 years, it was 2.0g more than that, but from this year it has been reduced by 0.1g. I feel we are willing to make changes to meet the preferences of health-conscious consumers.

The Twin Powers of the Industry

The man who has led a series of small changes is the company’s Chairman Nobuhisa Ikawa, 65. He joined the company in 1985 and became general manager of the Processing Business Division in 2006, when he took a scalpel to Chowesse, which was half deified within Nippon Ham. He launched the “Chiawesen Pizza,” a chilled pizza topped with cut Chiawesen, which until then had neither been baked nor cooked in a microwave oven.

In 2012, after assuming the presidency, he launched “Chaussén Night Flavor” for a limited time only. It was a product with more spice than usual and could be served as a side dish at night, and was awarded the “Marketer of the Year” award in ’25. Behind the development of this product was a survey of employees regarding “how to cook Chowesen.

It turned out that 88% of the employees were using the “baking method,” which was considered forbidden in the company due to the loss of texture. Therefore, “Yoru Aji,” which specializes in baking, was developed, and “lentil cooking” was added to the cooking methods introduced on the website. The flexibility of the top management’s ideas allows us to maintain our position as a top runner.

Fumio Maeda, 60, who was promoted to president of the company in April of this year, replacing Igawa, who became chairman, has announced that he will strengthen overseas sales of the ham and sausage business, centering on Chawesen. As a synonym for Japanese wieners, the company appears to be going overseas.

Itoh Ham is the only company in the industry that has achieved annual sales of 1 trillion yen, on par with Nippon Ham. Itoham launched “Bayern” in 1985, followed two years later by the launch of the new “Bayern,” a high-end product made from ground beef and pork. In 1998, the company changed the name to “Alt Bayern” and changed to the same 100% pork wiener it uses today.

The Altbiern has an even coarser grind than the Schaussen, with an uneven surface and a darker color. The casing is thicker and crispier.

The most important feature is the use of German rock salt, which is used to sweeten the fat and enhance the flavor of the meat. Rock salt brings out the sweetness of the fat and the tenderness of the meat. Altbiern’s selling point is its flavorful coarsely ground meat that has been aged for 72 hours, so it is a perfect match for rock salt. This year, Itoh Ham renewed Altbiern and increased the amount of salt from 1.7g to 1.8g per 100g. It has declared its pursuit of flavor, even going against the grain of the health-conscious age.

How do you use it to make the most of its flavor? We compared the “taste and price” of the “friend of the common people” wiener!

From the May 29, 2026 issue of FRIDAY