Launched in 1924, it is so unique and original that there is no confectionary like it. Its category varies: candy, soft candy or caramel. The unique texture and flavor have been highly regarded for decades.
Category: We have given Bontan Ame a category of its own. Since it has no competition and there is no similar product in the domestic market, we are proud of this unique product.
Background and Story of Development: Seika Foods was formerly Kagoshima Kashi Co., Ltd. and was in the business of glutinous starch syrup. One day, our founder saw his factory workers playfully cutting Chosen Ame (also called Gyuhi, a popular local confectionary in Kumamoto) into small pieces with scissors. This scene stuck with him and he came up with the idea of developing Bontan Ame. He added flavor and color to the candy and put them in a box like caramel. At the time, the target competition was Morinaga's Milk Caramel.
Feature: All ingredients are of plant origin. The main ingredients are starch syrup, sugar, maltose and glutinous rice. Most of the glutinous rice we use is Hiyoku-mochi from Saga or Kumamoto Prefecture. Glutinous rice comes in unpolished. It is then cleaned, further polished and milled at our factory before being soaked overnight in cold water of 10℃ or below (known as "exposure to the cold"). The final process is steaming for two and half hours.
The finished candies are wrapped with a thin, starch wafer (made from potato and sweet potato flour) and they are soft, sticky and chewy. The fresh and sweet-sour flavor comes mostly from citrus fruits grown in southern Kyushu: Bontan extract (oil) from the Akune Pomelo; Sour Pomelo juice from Ichiki-Kushikino; and juice of Kyushu mandarin orange.
In Kyushu, Bontan Ame is a traditional confectionary passed down from parents to children, and from children to grandchildren. It has even been featured in magazines as a little known best-selling item at JR station shops "KIOSK". Girls in junior and senior high school enjoy it instead of gummies or chewy candies on their way to and from school. They like Bontan Ame because it is also quite filling.


Confectionary Division Customer Service
9:00 to 17:00 on weekdays, excluding National Holidays
TEL +81-99-254-0839