Food model
Food models, also known as fake foods, food figurines or "food samples" (Japanese: 食品サンプル, romanized: shokuhin sampuru), are scale models or replicas of a food item or dish made from plastic, wax, resin or similar inedible material. They are commonly used as mockups in restaurant display windows and shelves in Japan, although other countries like South Korea and China also use such models for similar promotional as well as decorative purposes for restaurants, food boothes and street food carts.
Using food models allow food
Use by Japanese restaurants
In Japan, shokuhin sampuru (食品サンプル), taken from the English "sample", are widespread. In the late
The
Many restaurants in Japan use replicas to display their popular dishes in their windows and attract customers. The plastic food manufacturers fiercely guard their trade secrets as business is lucrative; the plastic food industry in Japan, by conservative estimates, has revenues of billions of yen per year.[6] A single restaurant may order a complete menu of plastic items costing over a million yen (equivalent to about 7,900 Euros or US$ 9,600). The plastic replicas are much more expensive than the food they imitate, but can last indefinitely. For this reason, many companies that manufacture fake food have stagnant or declining profits.[7] Because some individual pieces can be very expensive, sometimes restaurants rent the pieces instead of buying them outright.[1] They are also sold to the general public in some retail stores in Tokyo's "Kitchen Town" restaurant supply district.[1]
The craftsmanship has been raised to an art form. Japanese plastic food models by the Maizuru Company were exhibited at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in 1980.[5] Regular competitions are held in making fake food dishes out of plastic and other materials.
Other uses
Fake and replica foods are used in many ways, such as
In the 2010s, models of foods and dishes were also used for nutrition education and consumer research.[9][10][11]
In North America, fake food is often used for retail displays. Furniture retailers use it in showrooms (such as a bowl of fake apples) to give their furniture settings a lived-in look.
Sometimes at weddings, the bride and groom opt to have an elaborately decorated dummy wedding cake for show while everyone is served slices of sheet cake.
Manufacturing process
Modern manufacturing technologies and high quality plastic materials provide realistic-looking fake food replicas, but approximately 95% of all fake food is still handcrafted.[citation needed] Artisans and highly trained craftsmen make realistic fake food, often painting them by hand to create a realistic look and feel.[12]
When fake food is made using a mold, the mold is created by dipping real food into silicone. A liquid plastic, typically polyvinyl chloride, is chosen in a color that matches the food, before being poured into the mold and heated in an oven until it solidifies.[2] (When a food sample is not available or would disintegrate or melt in the mold during casting, a clay model of the food must instead be sculpted.) After setting for ten to thirty minutes, any excess vinyl buildup is trimmed off, and the replica is painted either by hand or airbrush. If the food comprises several parts, such as a hamburger or sushi roll, the item is assembled from separate vinyl pieces.[3]
While some large-scale fake food manufacturing companies exist, others are small shops with a single proprietor. Fake food items can be found and purchased in
References
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ a b Hani, Yoko (November 24, 2002). "A feast for the eyes". Japan Times.
- ^ a b Fukuda, Natsuki. "Delicious Vinyl: Japan's Plastic Food Replicas". Sake-Drenched Postcards.
- ^ "Delicious Vinyl: Japan's Plastic Food Replicas". Sake-Drenched Postcards. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
- ^ a b Lubarsky, Jared (December 29, 1985). "Shopper's World; It Looks Good Enough To Eat". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- Japan Times, November 24, 2002.
- ^ "Hungry Days For Fake-Food Firms: Profits Fall For Japan's Innovators". The Seattle Times. January 2, 1994.
- ^ Cook, Kristen (1 April 2009). "Mouth-watering plastic: Fake foods save businesses real dollars annually". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
- PMID 21920063.
- PMID 26256557.
- PMID 25049139.
- ^ McNicol, Tony (October 2008). "Good Enough to Eat" (PDF). Wingspan. All Nippon Airways. pp. 8–12.