About Nippi

Collagen Casing Division

Nippi’s collagen casing business began in the wake of Dr. Nishihara’s discovery of a “solubilization technology” for collagen fiber, which had long been considered insoluble. Patent application was submitted in 1960, and casing manufacturing and sales began in 1970. Nippi is recognized as the first manufacturer to successfully commercialize edible casing for sausage made from collagen and currently sells its casings to over 30 countries around the globe.

Cutting-Edge Technology

The unique features and benefits of Nippi Collagen casings continue to play an important role within the food industry worldwide. Research and development within Nippi is an ongoing process and has resulted in the development of numerous products. Recent developments include printed casings, on which characters and letters are printed in edible ink (made from natural, edible materials), and Nippi “string” (made from collagen and used for holding together food items such as rice cakes in deep-fried tofu seaweed rolls and stuffed cabbage rolls).

Consumers prefer casings made with collagen compared with sausages in natural casings, and hundreds of different sausage types around the world are now made in collagen casings. Did you know every year enough edible collagen casings are produced to go around the world more than 125 times?

What Is Collagen?

Collagen is a common, naturally occurring, long, fibrous protein with remarkable properties. It has been used for many years as the primary raw material for various applications, including in the biomedical and cosmetic fields as well as in the food and nutraceutical industry. It is also the base material for the extensive gelatin industry.

Collagen is uniquely suited for the manufacture of edible casings. As a result of its unique fibrous nature, it provides the high mechanical strength required for very thin casings to survive the forces of high-speed machines in the sausage stuffing and linking process. Collagen is also unique in that it will shrink on heating at about the same rate as meat, while moisture and fat melt away, reducing the sausage diameter. No other edible material has been found to provide these unique characteristics.

Nippi Collagen Casings – Unmatched Quality

Nippi casings are the best-quality collagen sausage casings available, and for over 30 years Nippi has supplied high-quality edible collagen casings globally. Nippi casings have high collagen content and have an excellent safety profile as well as a transparent, traceable supply chain. Nippi casings are the most uniform among collagen casings currently available in the world. Great uniformity and extra strength make Nippi casing the most cost-effective of its kind. Additionally, the added benefit of longer shelf life is a key competitive advantage for sausages made in collagen casings.

Nippi’s consistent wall thickness and caliber eliminate giveaway due to over- or underweight links. This results in direct yield savings. Nippi’s high collagen content reduces pullback and shrinkage through a variety of cooking operations while creating a unique and superior bite profile. This provides more pounds of finished product per foot of casing, resulting in lower overall casing costs.

Nippi casings are suitable for all types of sausages (cooked, fresh, dry sausages, etc.). They are available in an assortment of calibers and can be supplied in a wide range of colors and finishes to satisfy consumers’ expectations and processors’ needs. Sizing of edible casing sticks comes in different diameters, ranging from as small as 13 mm up to sizes in excess of 34 mm.