Japan News Update #21 (1-14 Feb, 2022)
Stay updated on the latest agricultural news in Japan, that we publish every two weeks.
by Yuki Sano
Sustainable trends: imperfect produce and chocolate
A new trend in defective products has emerged to reduce food waste in Japan. Radishbo-ya Co., Ltd., a grocery delivery service firm, launched its organic fruit and vegetable delivery service last April and achieved sales of $2.6 million in the first six months. Consumers no longer see irregular food as low grade and even enjoy buying them because it is fun to use unique ingredients. The trends is also having an impact on farmers. Hideaki Narita, an apple producer in Aomori prefecture, and MUJI, a major Japanese retailer, aim to show consumers the value of irregular-shaped produce, hoping to turn it into a brand.
Source: Imperfect Produce Trend Takes Shape
The importance of chocolate for Valentine's Day is not just the brand or sweetness. The ideal chocolate should be ethical from the tree to the palate, using the right cocoa beans and delivering the finished product in an environmentally friendly way. For example, Club Harrier's chocolate-flavored Baumkuchen was delivered from the factory to the event venue using emissions-friendly transport such as a Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicle and a Shinkansen bullet train. In addition, the La Barca Group, which runs the QUON chocolate business, actively employs people with disabilities.
Source: Be my virtuous valentine? Japan gets a taste of sustainable chocolate
Global inflation wave on Japan’s food price
Global inflation, combined with high commodity and energy prices, has pushed up costs of everyday goods in Japan. For example, soy sauce products from Kikkoman Corp., pasta and pasta sauces from Nippn Corp., frozen products from Maruha Nichiro Corp., Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd., and Ajinomoto Frozen Foods Co. have become pricier from February. Many economists expect price hikes to continue for a while in Japan due to global inflation. This trend will likely burden households with lower incomes in particular. Assuming a food price increase of 3.3% and an energy price increase of 9.1% in 2022, households with less than ¥3 million (approx. €23,000) in annual income would face an increase in food and energy costs of ¥42,339 (approx. €324) in a year. The ratio of food and energy costs compared to their income would rise 1.8 percentage points to 40.5%.
Source: Global inflation wave pushes up prices in Japan on everything from pasta to gasoline
New technology in breeding and retail
Human Support Technology Co., Ltd., a software development start-up based in Ibaraki prefecture, will launch an AI-based system to detect cows' breeding seasons in early 2023. The company has applied its security camera system which detects human movement to agriculture. By analyzing the behavior of cows from images taken by multiple cameras, the system can identify when cows are in heat and ensure breeding. The company is also planning to apply AI image diagnosis technology to other fields of agriculture, such as pig farming, and detect diseases in cows and blemishes in tomatoes.
Source: AI to Detect breeding season in cattle
Summit, a supermarket chain, is growing some of its herbs and vegetables in little LED-lit vertical farms in-store to cut energy used for shipping, greenhouse gas emissions and food waste. Summit installed LED-lit vertical farms of Dutch company Infarm in seven of its outlets in Tokyo in January 2021. The outlets grow leafy greens such as cilantro and Italian basil in hydroponics and sell them at a stable price. The supermarket manager said children get interested in the plant growing and harvesting process.
Source: Tokyo supermarkets turn to in-store vertical farms to cut carbon emissions
Issue of origin labeling and bird flu outbreak in Japan
Kumamoto Prefecture will suspend shipments of Asari clams for about two months due to suspicions of origin labeling. A survey by the Fisheries Agency estimated that 2,485 tonnes of clams labeled as Kumamoto-grown were sold over three months, while only 21 tonnes were recorded as being produced in the prefecture in 2020. Under Japan's Food Labelling Law, the origin of clam products is determined based on where they were reared for the most extended period. In Kumamoto, overfishing has led to a decline in the production of clams. As a result, many businesses import clams from abroad and grow them locally only briefly before shipping them.
Source: Trust in origin labeling eroding in Japan
Iwate Prefecture announced an outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu at a chicken farm.
The Iwate government plans to cull all 45,000 birds at the farm and ask poultry farms within a 10-kilometer radius to stop transporting chickens and products. This is the first bird flu outbreak at a poultry farm in Iwate Prefecture.
Source: Bird flu outbreak confirmed at northeastern Japan farm
Flower project for international Expo
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) starts a project for the International Horticultural Expo 2027, Yokohama, Japan, by creating a special site “Road to 2027 Expo” (link). This is categorized as an A1-class, the highest level, International Horticultural Exhibition, the second time in Japan after EXPO 1990 in Osaka. This project also aims at stimulating the demand for flowers and at using flowers in daily life.
Source: MAFF starts flower projects for International Expo 2027