Food model

"Fake fruit" redirects here. For culinary fruits that are not classified as botanical fruits, seeAccessory fruit.

Food models,also known asfake foods,food figurinesor "food samples"(Japanese:Thực phẩm サンプル,romanized:shokuhin sampuru), arescale modelsorreplicasof a food item or dish made fromplastic,wax,resin,or a similar inedible material. They are commonly used asmockupsin restaurantdisplay windowsandshelvesinJapan,although other countries likeSouth KoreaandChinaalso use such models for similar purposes in restaurants,food booths,andfood carts.

Model foods in a restaurant window in Japan

Using food models allow food vendors to advertise to consumers a three-dimensional image of their products, while avoiding the need to put real food on display unattended for prolonged periods of time, which can get contaminated, spoiled, or attract unpleasant pests like flies, cockroaches and ants.

Use by Japanese restaurants

Model food dishes in a restaurant in Japan

Person looking at a model menu

Old food models in front of a Sushi shop in Tokyo

In Japan,shokuhin sampuru(Thực phẩm サンプル),taken from the English "sample", are widespread. In the lateEdo period,in the 1800s, food sellers displayed a plate of real food each day in lieu of a written menu.During the earlyShōwa period,in the late 1920s, Japaneseartisansandcandlemakers developed food models that made it easy for patrons to order without the use of menus, which were not common in Japan at that time.Paraffinwas used to create these until the mid-1980s, but because its colors faded when exposed to heat or sunlight, manufacturers later switched topolyvinyl chloride,which is "nearly eternal".

Theplastic modelsare mostly handmade from polyvinyl chloride and sculpted to look like the actual dishes.The models can be custom-tailored to individual restaurants and even common items such asramencan be modified to match each establishment's food or regional differences.During the molding process, the imitation ingredients are often chopped up and combined in a manner similar to actual cooking.

Many restaurants in Japan use replicas to display their popular dishes in their windows and attract customers. The plastic food manufacturers fiercely guard their trade secrets as business is lucrative; the plastic food industry in Japan, by conservative estimates, has revenues of billions of yen per year.A single restaurant may order a complete menu of plastic items costing over a million yen (equivalent to about 7,900 Euros or US$ 9,600). The plastic replicas are much more expensive than the food they imitate, but can last indefinitely. For this reason, many companies that manufacture fake food have stagnant or declining profits.Because some individual pieces can be very expensive, sometimes restaurants rent the pieces instead of buying them outright.They are also sold to the general public in some retail stores inTokyo's"Kitchen Town" restaurant supply district.

The craftsmanship has been raised to an art form. Japanese plastic food models by the Maizuru Company were exhibited at London'sVictoria and Albert Museumin 1980.Regular competitions are held in making fake food dishes out of plastic and other materials.

Other uses

A fake apple (right), used as a household decoration, compared to a real apple (left)

Clay models of fruits and vegetables

Fake and replica foods are used in many ways, such aspropsfor backgrounds in movies, television shows, theatrical plays, television commercials, print ads, and trade shows. Food models are also used to display lifelike replicas of real foods for restaurants, grocery chains, museums, banquet halls, casino buffets, cruise ships, and in many other instances in which real foods cannot be displayed. For instance, the American company Fake Foods began when fast food restaurantsWendy'sneeded artificialkalefor their salad bar display.

In the 2010s, models of foods and dishes were also used for nutrition education and consumer research.

In North America, fake food is often used for retail displays. Furniture retailers use it in showrooms (such as a bowl of fake apples) to give their furniture settings a lived-in look.

Sometimes atweddings,the bride and groom opt to have an elaborately decorated dummywedding cakefor show while everyone is served slices ofsheet cake.

Manufacturing process

Battering modeltempura

Wax items to be breaded

Pouring artificial batter into water

Attaching shrimp model to batter

Finished pieces

Modern manufacturing technologies and high quality plastic materials provide realistic-looking fake food replicas, but approximately 95% of all fake food is still handcrafted.Artisans and highly trained craftsmen make realistic fake food, often painting them by hand to create a realistic look and feel.

When fake food is made using a mold, the mold is created by dipping real food into silicone. A liquid plastic, typicallypolyvinyl chloride,is chosen in a color that matches the food, before being poured into the mold and heated in an oven until it solidifies.(When a food sample is not available or would disintegrate or melt in the mold during casting, a clay model of the food must instead be sculpted.) After setting for ten to thirty minutes, any excess vinyl buildup is trimmed off, and the replica is painted either by hand orairbrush.If the food comprises several parts, such as a hamburger or sushi roll, the item is assembled from separate vinyl pieces.

While some large-scale fake food manufacturing companies exist, others are small shops with a single proprietor. Fake food items can be found and purchased inKappabashi-dori,the food supply street inTokyoand also at Doguyasuji located inNamba,Osaka. Factories can be found inGujō,Gifu.Iwasaki Be-I is the biggest plastic food manufacturer in Japan, founded byTakizo Iwasakiin 1932. Maiduru is another old and large manufacturer.