Mikawaya - did they change their recipe?

[igj]

I bought a box of their chocolate mochi ice cream recently at Nijiya and it seemed very different than the last 247 times I have purchased it - the mochi-ish covering was thicker, no evidence of chocolate chips, different mouthfeel for the ice cream. I usually stop by one of their Little Tokyo branches every few months or so, but I haven't been able to get there since I had this odd box... anyone know if the recipe changed? If so, is it just for the packaged business or is the product in the shops also different? If not, has anyone ever bought a dud mochi ice cream from them before? I only bought a chocolate box, so I have no idea if the other flavors seem different...

[mochi1]

I am very sorry for the delay in responding, Been out with the flu, etc, etc. The short
answer is no!

The long answer is that The Mochi covering is still being made the same way it has been made since we introduced the product in 1994. We are still using the same recipe, same ingredients, same equipment. The machine that actually makes the
mochi ice cream has variable of 2 grams. It is possible that the product you got was
a little thicker than ones you might have gotten in the past. We have had several meetings with the manufacturer over the years and he reminds us that even a change in the humidity could cause slight changes in the product. An additional minute in the cooking could also make a slight change. We are reminded by our machine companies as well as our ingredient companies that as much science as we use, food production is still somewhat of an art.

As far as the issue of the chocolate chips, this problem we learned about from our own Q/C people.In opening and looking at many gallons of ice cream and found that you are correct in that some have more chips than others. We have made a modification in the process and believe that this problem has been resolved. We thank you for your input and would ask that you continue to monitor our activity to help ensure that our product remains the best that it can be
MIKAWAYA

[igj]

Wow. Thanks for the response. Much appreciated. I will definitely keep buying them since they are one of my favorite treats in the world!