Installation exampls

　Okashinoshiro Nasu Heartland is located in Nasu in Japan’s Tochigi Prefecture. Situated along the Nasu Highway, the company engages in the wholesale and retail sales of confections, and also operates tourist facilities. Okashinoshiro, which means castle of confectionery, is the company’s main facility and is an integrated factory and store. Opened in 1989, it is where the company makes and sells over 50 varieties of Western- and Japanese-style confections. Visitors can watch the production of sponge cakes with custard filling on the first floor, and pies, cookies, and other baked sweets on the second floor.
　While the company’s total annual sales in 2019 were ¥1.27 billion, last year the company struggled. Founder and President Shunsuke Katagiri told us: “Due to the coronavirus pandemic, major tourist facilities in the area, including our own, were closed for 40 days. In these difficult times, however, sales of Goyoutei-no-Hana sustained us.”
　Goyoutei-no-Hana is a confection inspired by an image of the flowers of the imperial villa known as “Goyoutei,” located in Nasu. Consisting of strawberry cream sandwiched between two cookies, the cream filling is made with strawberries from the company’s own farm. The confection is produced using Rheon’s Sandwich Cookie Line introduced in 2018.
　“When we were considering bringing in a production line, Rheon suggested that we use their new machinery to produce sandwich cookies using our company’s strawberries,” the president said. “The strawberry cream that Rheon prototyped for us was the ideal color and flavor, but what made us decide to go with the Sandwich Cookie Line was not just the machinery’s performance, but also the trust we had in Rheon’s advice.” Goyoutei-no-Hana has become a hit, with around 600,000 sold in the one and a half years since its release.
　Currently, the company uses the Sandwich Cookie Line to make three varieties of confections, changed daily, producing around 5,000 pieces every day. Visitors can freely watch the production process through observation windows. One customer said, “I noted that the confections are produced hygienically using machinery, and that the production area was also very clean.”

　President Katagiri also told us: “I believe that, no matter the age, sweets make people’s lives richer. And I would like to convey my gratitude to all those around the world who support their production. Although the situation has been difficult due to the coronavirus pandemic, our duty to try to make people as happy as possible through sweets remains unchanged. It is my desire to work as one to bring back those days filled with smiles through the power of confections.” President Katagiri’s words convey the passion that goes along with his good nature.