Chichibu Mayu: the world’s first PEFC-certified sweets
‘Chichibu Mayu’, means ‘cocoon-shaped marshmallow’, is made from the sap of maple trees and is the world’s first forest-born sweet to achieve PEFC certification.
Chichibu Mayu: the world’s first PEFC-certified sweets
14 August 2020 Food
‘Chichibu Mayu’ means ‘cocoon-shaped marshmallow’ in Japanese and is the name of the world’s first forest-born sweets to achieve SGEC/PEFC certification.
The forest sweets are made from the sap of maple trees that grow in the SGEC/PEFC-certified municipal forests of Chichibu in the Saitama Prefecture in Japan.
Chichibu Mayu resembles a fluffy marshmallow, and can be eaten by itself, dipped into coffee or melted on bread.
A special treat from the forest
The forest-born sweets are produced by Chichibu Nakamuraya, a company that has been operating in Chichibu since 1924, and were put on the market this June by Mori for Forest Certification Inc. (MFC).
The packaging of the sweets carries both the MFC and SGEC/PEFC labels.
The municipal forest acquired SGEC/PEFC certification in 2016. At the same time, MFC started locally promoting the production of sweets using sap extracted from the maple trees in those forests.
After working towards certification for three years, MFC achieved SGEC/PEFC chain of custody certification earlier this year.
A part of the income from the sale of the forest sweets will be used for the maintenance of the municipal forests of Chichibu.
Beyond timber and paper
Besides timber and paper products, non-wood forest products can also achieve PEFC certification, if they originate in a PEFC-certified forest and are processed by companies holding a PEFC chain of custody certificate.
Sweets made from the sap of trees in a PEFC-certified forest are only one of the many products in this category. Other products include edible wild plants and mushrooms, and even ham and honey from pigs and bees living in certified forests.
Photo credits: Mori for Forest Certification Inc. (MFC)