The perfect way to end any meal, any experience even, is with an ice cream. This is a tenant most Japanese restaurants firmly believe, choosing ice cream as at least one of, or the only, dessert on the menu. Cream come true for most of us, but vegans and lactose-intolerant people often have to go without sweets or settle for mochi when dining at nonvegan restaurants.

The plight of sweet-toothed adherents to a dairy-free diet is beginning to be heard in Japan, however. FARM8 Co. Ltd has recently created a rice-based gelato, made entirely from plants. They aim to make it an easily available vegan option on the menu of every restaurant in Japan. With the number of inbound tourists increasing as we approach the 2020 Olympics, this is a great way for restaurants to entice visitors with dietary requirements.

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Hacco RICE Gelato

FARM8’s Hacco Rice Gelato uses sake lees as its base. Sake lees is created and left over when rice is fermented in the sake brewing process. FARM8 further ferments the lees with lactic acid to create a creamy yoghurt flavor for their gelato. With a texture just like ice cream, this dessert aims to deliver the same sweet satisfaction.

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A Fermented, Nutritious Dessert Option

While it may taste like ice cream, Hacco RICE Gelato is far more nutritional. As it is a fermented product, FARM8 are promoting the gelato’s detoxing qualities. Fermented foods, such as miso or natto – and now ice cream apparently, are extremely rich in nutrients and are credited with giving Japanese people such long lives. Finally, we can start eating gelato to get healthy!

FARM8 also suggest their ice cream has beautifying qualities. It abounds with nutrients such as ferulic acid and a-EG, a component of collagen, all of which are commonly used in beauty products. Not only is this gelato great for you internally then, but it may also keep you looking good on the outside.

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Good for us, good for the environment

If ice cream that’s good for your health isn’t enough, how about ice cream that’s also good for the planet? FARM8 emphasise that Hacco Gelato’s production process is environmentally friendly. This is because they recycle sake lees that are made during sake brewing in Niigata. Sake lees is ordinarily difficult to dispose of, so recycling it into delicious ice-cream is a great way to save burning it or disposing of it in a way which might harm the planet. Add in the benefits of not using any animal products for their ice cream and this gelato is pretty green, even without matcha flavoring.

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Where can I Try it?

While FARM8’s focus is on selling their gelato to restaurant businesses, you can also head down to their Hacco RICE Gelato pop-up stall in Akasaka to try the gelato for yourself!

Address: 東京都港区赤坂５丁目３−１ 赤坂Bizタワー地下１階 dashi +（だしぷらす） 内

Alternatively, you can order a free 90 ml sample to be delivered to your home at this link.

With the summer Olympics promising to be a hot one, tourists and residents can rest assured that there’s a sweet, icy treat on the menu – for everyone!