The viral 7-Eleven Japanese egg sandwich is coming to Canada
It will cost about as much as a scratch card
Gone are the days when an egg salad sandwich could turn a school kid into a lunchroom pariah. Thanks to Japan’s convenience-store-staple tamago sando—the impossibly fluffy Japanese-style egg salad sandwich that Anthony Bourdain spotlighted in 2015 on Parts Unknown—the one-time friend extinguisher has become a bona fide cult fave. Bright yellow and impossibly creamy, its edges trimmed neat and wrapped in cellophane, the sandwich pops up on TikTok again and again.
Related: Five Toronto takes on the Japanese egg sandwich
And while deli doomscrolling is always a fun pastime, we have some good news for Canada. The tamago, made with cage-free eggs, authentic Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise and fresh thick-cut shokupan (milk bread), will soon be available at 7-Eleven Canada for a modest $5. That’s less than the price of two beef-and-cheese taquitos.
The trendy sandwich is more than a viral stunt. Its launch is part of a broader strategy to keep 7-Eleven competitive with big-box players like Walmart, which are better equipped to undercut prices, and to reposition the brand as something closer to a fast-casual restaurant that happens to sell convenience-store staples.
Slurpees with a side of caviar may not be far off.
Erin Hershberg is a freelance writer with nearly two decades of experience in the lifestyle sector. She currently lives in downtown Toronto with her husband and two children.
