The products are licensed by the government’s Food and Drug Administration and have shelf lives of either six months or one year. A local subsidiary of a Japanese company is…

The products are licensed by the government’s Food and Drug Administration and have shelf lives of either six months or one year.

A local subsidiary of a Japanese company is introducing precooked, ready-to-eat rice products to the Philippine market using its parent firm’s unique technology.

Biotech Japan Corp., based in Batangas province immediately south of the capital, Manila, last year launched Echigo, a precooked, protein-reduced rice intended mainly for people with chronic kidney disease.

The company is now working on the commercial distribution of three other products this year — Insta Rice (regular, precooked rice that only needs to be microwaved), Gohan Lite (calorie-reduced precooked rice, also for reheating), and Rice-to-Go (ready-to-eat rice that can be consumed without heating) — all sold in 200-gram packs.

The products are licensed by the government’s Food and Drug Administration and have shelf lives of either six months or one year.

To deal with this traditional lifestyle barrier, the company is marketing its products through exhibits — most recently at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute — and by initially targeting consumers in the top two income classes.