House Foods

House Foods Corporation (ハウス食品株式会社, Hausu Shokuhin Kabushiki-gaisha) is one of Japan's largest food manufacturers and brands. It began in 1913 in Osaka as Urakami Shoten and began selling curry in 1926.

House Foods is the world's largest manufacturer of Japanese curry, and is well known for its Japanese curry brands, Vermont Curry and Java Curry. It is also a major manufacturer of spices such as wasabi, shichimi, yuzukoshō, and black pepper. In addition, House Foods manufactures mixes and roux for various yōshoku including cream stew, beef stew, chowder, Hayashi rice, mabo tofu, sundōbu-chige, Bolognese sauce, oden broth, fried rice, Hamburg, and gratin; instant ramen such as Umakacchan; snacks such as Tongari Corn and potato chips; desserts such as Fruiche, pudding, sherbet, and jelly; and drinks such as oolong tea, mugicha, and lassi. It also owns Ichibanya, a Japanese curry restaurant with over 1,400 outlets around the world, and operates the Hungry Bear Restaurant at Tokyo Disneyland and the Casbah Food Court at Tokyo DisneySea. House Foods also engages in food technology, notably developing the tear-free onion Smile Ball (Goldies in the US), created by removing the tear-producing lachrymatory agent syn-propanethial-S-oxide, which won its creators the 2013 Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

House Foods is also well-known for collaborating with renowned entertainers such as Arashi, Hey! Say! JUMP, AKB48, Nogizaka46, Takuya Kimura and Masahiro Nakai of SMAP, Tsubasa Honda, Hikaru Nishida, Rurouni Kenshin: The Final Actress Emi Takei, former leader of Morning Musume Miki Fujimoto, and Gen Hoshino. As a sponsor of TV programs, House Foods is known for the World Masterpiece Theater on Fuji TV.

As of 2013, House Foods operates under a holding company structure as House Foods Group Inc. (ハウス食品グループ本社株式会社, Hausu Shokuhin Gurupu Honsha Kabushiki-gaisha).