Beyond the Blue Can

At a FamilyMart convenience store in Tokyo, tucked between shelves of drinks and grab-and-go meals, sits a humble rice ball with a twist: a thick slice of SPAM^® Classic layered over tuna mayo and wrapped in a sheet of nori. The packaging is unmistakable, featuring the brand’s signature blue and yellow. It’s a snack, yes — but it also hints at the brand’s evolving relationship with consumers.

Introduced in 2020 with a modest trial launch, ready-to-eat SPAM^® products have since become a quiet phenomenon in Japan. Within 12 months, they expanded from just 300 stores to every FamilyMart location nationwide — more than 16,000 in total — a remarkable feat in a market where only 5% of new items earn long-term placement. To date, more than 95 million have been sold, with that number well on track to surpass 100 million before the end of 2025.

With that kind of traction so quickly, the takeaway was unmistakable: the SPAM^® brand doesn’t need a can to connect with consumers — a truth that has long been understood in Hawaii, where SPAM^® musubi has become a beloved staple and a fixture of local culinary culture.

That tradition is beginning to resonate across the globe, as well. From Japan to the Philippines and now to the deli counters of mainland U.S. grocery retailers, the SPAM^® brand is finding new momentum in non-traditional formats. These prepared products aren’t replacing the iconic can — far from it — but they are reshaping how consumers discover and interact with the brand. They’re convenient. They’re craveable. And they’re quietly rewriting the SPAM^® brand playbook in real time.

“SPAM^® is one of the few brands that can transcend borders and cultures,” said Swen Neufeldt, group vice president at Hormel Foods and president of Hormel Foods International Corporation (HFIC). “What we’re seeing now is a new chapter, where the brand is showing up in new and exciting ways, and consumers all over the world are responding in kind.”

Built on Blue and Yellow

The modern journey of the SPAM^® brand in Japan didn’t begin with nationwide fanfare. It actually started quite small.

In fact, the earliest versions of these ready-to-eat products didn’t even feature the SPAM^® brand, labeled more generically at first as “pork musubi.” Early sales were modest, and the product struggled to stand out. That changed after a pivotal meeting with FamilyMart in 2020, when the case was presented for a fully branded slate of SPAM^® brand offerings.

That case proved to be a successful one. Once the logo and signature blue-and-yellow design were introduced on packaging, the results were immediate. Consumer recognition surged, and so did sales.

SPAM^® is one of the few brands that can transcend borders and cultures.
Swen Neufeldt, group vice president at Hormel Foods and president of Hormel Foods International Corporation

“It skyrocketed,” said Chizuru Yukita, HFIC country manager in Japan. “With the SPAM^® logo and name, which is already very popular in Japan, the response from consumers was totally different.”

That response quickly merited expansion. Now five years in, SPAM^® musubi products in Japan are a staple offering in one of the country’s staple convenience-store chains in FamilyMart, driven by deep consumer trust in the brand, and thoughtful innovation by Hormel Foods.

“Every season we try to launch a new flavor,” Yukita said. “And if that flavor performs well, we keep selling it. Some items are seasonal only, but some are becoming standard, and now we are selling four to five different kinds of SPAM^® products in FamilyMart throughout the year.”

Innovation Unbound by Borders

The momentum of SPAM^® musubi products in Japan eventually caught the attention of Hormel Foods team members in the Philippines. With the SPAM^® brand already enjoying a loyal fan base in the Filipino market — viewed widely by locals as a premium product — the team saw an opportunity to take the brand into more everyday occasions.

“SPAM^® products are a staple in the Filipino household, and it’s something that people look forward to, especially during special occasions,” said Charmaine Dy, HFIC sales manager in the Philippines. “But we realized that the market was evolving and people were craving more convenient options.”

In March 2024, the team launched its first out-of-the-can SPAM^® product line in partnership with 7-Eleven. The initial lineup included SPAM^® musubi, kimchi fried rice, and Korean-style egg drop sandwiches — all featuring prominent SPAM^® branding. Like in Japan, those products quickly found their footing in the Philippines.

What excites me most is we’re just getting started. These products are only the beginning of where we can go.
Swen Neufeldt, group vice president at Hormel Foods and president of Hormel Foods International Corporation

“We really focused on making sure that SPAM^® brand was prominently featured on all the products,” Dy said. “We wanted to make sure that the branding was there, and people know that these are SPAM^® products. And I think that contributed a lot to the success we’ve seen.”

According to Dy, the ready-to-eat products helped reinforce the brand’s premium positioning, while also making it more accessible to younger consumers. The reception exceeded expectations.

“We expected it to be popular with consumers, but even we didn’t expect it to grow that fast,” she said. “People really liked it, and we got a lot of good feedback. It’s something new and exciting, and it’s something that people are coming back to repurchase again and again.”

Mainland Momentum

The strong performance of SPAM^® sushi products and other ready-to-eat offerings in Japan and the Philippines is starting to influence exploration elsewhere — including the mainland United States, where the brand is experimenting with new ways to meet consumers in familiar places.

“We’re now testing different types of SPAM^® products that could go into out-of-the-can applications,” said Dan Kubiak, senior SPAM^® brand manager in the U.S. “It’s as much about building familiarity with the brand as it is about creating new product lines. What’s encouraging is this seems to be resonating with younger consumers and driving new engagement with the brand.”

In partnership with select retailers, Hormel Foods has begun testing SPAM^® branded musubi and norimaki products in deli sections across the U.S. The early signs are promising, particularly among Gen Z, millennials, and multicultural shoppers — groups with a strong appetite for sushi products and a fast-growing appreciation for the SPAM^® brand.

The strategy at work is subtle but intentional. For some consumers, these out-of-the-can offerings serve as a gateway — a low-effort introduction to a product they’ve been curious about but haven’t yet tried at home.

“If someone tries it in a rice bowl or a sandwich or something that’s familiar to them, they’re more inclined to pick up the can and make something themselves at home,” Kubiak said.

For the SPAM^® brand, that dynamic is already visible in long-established markets like Hawaii, where musubi is part of the cultural fabric. According to Kubiak, 7-Eleven stores in Hawaii are selling approximately 300 units of SPAM^® musubi per day. Test markets on the mainland are seeing a fraction of that per-store volume to start, but early signs are promising.

“There’s certainly a lot of runway for us to explore with these kinds of products,” Kubiak said. “We’re evolving the brand and the messaging to showcase these new formats, and we think there are a lot more exciting things to come.”

‘Just Getting Started’

Few brands are as recognizable as the SPAM^® brand — and even fewer are this adaptable.

In each market, the format may vary — musubi in Japan, fried rice in the Philippines, norimaki in the U.S. — but the underlying idea is the same: SPAM^® products in a finished, flavorful, convenient form that helps consumers around the world reimagine the brand in a modern way.

These out-of-the-can offerings are designed with intention. Flavor profiles, portion sizes and packaging choices are tailored to local preferences, ensuring each product feels relevant and familiar, even as it introduces something new. That balance of cultural fit and brand integrity has been key to the success of SPAM^® product innovations around the world, and it continues to guide what’s next.

“What excites me most is we’re just getting started,” Neufeldt said. “These products are only the beginning of where we can go.”