With its low birth rate and high life expectancy rate, Japan is leading the world when it comes to population decline, a phenomenon that is destined to become a key talking point across the developed world in the years to come.

At the heart of the matter is the gradual decline of marriage and the nuclear family and the growing number of people opting to live alone. Single-person households currently make up one out of three households in Japan and they’re increasing in number every year.

Now, with the country in a ‘state of emergency’ to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus, more people than ever are having to cook for themselves, by themselves. Preparing three, tasty and nutritious meals a day is no easy task. It takes a lot of time and effort to buy and prepare fresh ingredients and a great deal of food ends up in the bin instead of people’s stomachs. This is a crying waste of time, money and energy.

This graph shows how the proportion of solo households (the green line) and the proportion of over 65s living alone (the blue line) is expected to grow in the years to come. | © PR Times, Inc.

Fortunately, help is at hand in the form of a quick and easy meal kit delivery service from Yoshikei. There’s no need to go shopping, which saves you time and reduces the infection risks that come with a trip to a crowded supermarket. Plus, there’s no need to use a kitchen knife or cutting board, so there’s less washing up to do at the end of the meal.

You can order any one of seven Yoshikei meal kits. The menu includes much-loved Japanese, Western, and Chinese dishes. Each kit generally contains a main dish and two side dishes. They come pre-cooked, so depending on the dish, all you need do is either add hot water or microwave. Your meal is usually ready to eat in just 10 minutes.

Another perennial Yoshikei favourite: roast chicken in basil sauce. | © PR Times, Inc.

Another problem with cooking alone is that so-called “lonely food” tends to be less than healthy. When you’re only cooking for yourself, it’s all too easy to resort to comfort food, which might make you feel good, but is often high in salt, fat or sugar (and sometimes all three). Yoshikei meal kits have been designed by trained nutritionists, so you can be sure to get a balanced, nutritious meal every time.

You can order a Yoshikei meal kit for only one day, but it works out more economical if you order by the week. Yoshikei delivers meal kits to about 400,000 households nationwide every week, and the company says that demand for its kits is increasing. (nb. Their service is not available in some areas).

For more details, take a look at the Yoshikei website


By - George Lloyd.