Can the coffee: Miso machines are the new black
Collective action is a powerful tool for change that has led to so much of our improvement as a species. From bus protests to tax reform, anti-war rallies to dictator-toppling, the simple act of banding together and speaking out can really change nations.
Which makes us pause to consider whether Japan’s armies of office workers have been joining wills to demand the evil that is instant-coffee dispensers be banished from their workplaces and replaced with as patently fine a vending machine as the new One Shot miso soup dispenser from Marukome.
Sayonara caffeine
The company -- Japan’s largest miso producer -- says its new automated miso shiru maker will take aim at those tasteless caffeine peddlers from late fall this year.
The ¥3,000 device offers thirsty worker drones an alternative drink to coffee in that it’s a similar size, suitable for a small kitchen or even a desk, and is capable of spitting out the miso soup more or less instantly.
- More on CNNGo: Knock a hangover on the head with miso soup
Veering dangerously close to Galtonian quackery, a Marukome spokesman explains why he sees a bright future for the alternative hot, brown beverage.
“The Japanese have a latent need to eat miso soup,” says Shogo Koike. “But it needs to be there to consume. If it’s in front of them, they will eat it.”
After filling a bowl with the miso and hot water mix, customers get to adulterate their soup with a range of extras, such as freeze-dried tofu, seaweed and the tears of unemployed baristas. Well, the first two anyway.
Affordable too
Best of all, Marukome says when the One Shot goes on sale, a single serving will cost as little as ¥20 -- that’s approximately 25 U.S. cents at today’s (fast-shifting) exchange rate.
Whatever the origin of the new machine and its push for office space, we can only look on and wish that one day we might all work alongside a dispenser of healthy, tasty liquid refreshment.
