Category Archives: Cooperatives

NAKANO, Oct. 29 — An agriculture cooperative in central Japan has created gift boxes for its brand grapes with the Hello Kitty logo, aiming to attract females in their 50s and 60s to loosen their purse strings and buy the fruit as luxury gifts. Fruit is generally expensive in Japan, and people often buy grapes, melons and peaches as gifts. JA Nakano in Nagano prefecture, paired up with the local government in Nakano city, has manufactured gift boxes for a single bunch of its grapes “Shine Muscat.” It features Hello Kitty, Japan’s global iconic character.

TOKYO, Oct. 30 – Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-ZENCHU) launched a new website that introduces best rice brands from all of 47 prefectures of Japan on October 30, 2017. Viewers can search for mostly-recommended rice brands by specific characters such as flavor or stickiness or even the type of dishes with which they go well. The site opened as a part of JA Group website. There are individual pages for each rice brand that contains a radar chart of scores in eight aspects, as well as a positioning map based on the taste. The new website will hopefully help JA-ZENCHU to publicize distinctive qualities of different rice brands and … Continue reading →

SINGAPORE, Oct. 22 — A grocery store specializing in Japanese-grown farm goods is making its presence felt at Changi Airport in Singapore, Asia’s most popular airport, after being open for only a short time. The Premium Japan Farmers’ Market opened in September and features Japanese-grown food, including wagyu beef, sake and rice milk. The best-selling product is a ready-to-eat boxed lunch, the iconic bento, according to ADiRECT Singapore, the operator of the shop. The menu’s main staples are Japanese-grown rice, beef, grilled salmon and vegetables at a price of 980 yen. All the products are supplied by Zen-Noh International, a subsidiary of Japan’s National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Association, known … Continue reading →

MIYAGI, Oct. 15 — Japanese agriculture cooperatives in northern Japan have held a promotional event for their pears in Ho Chi Min city, after Vietnam lifted a 10-year ban on this crunchy fruit from Japan in January. The Japanese pear, known as nashi, is apple-shaped with golden speckled skin and is somewhat different to a European pear; it is firm, crispy, sweet and juicy. JA Miyagi Sennan and groups from its area displayed their Miyagi Zao nashi and offered tastings to customers at a Japanese chain supermarket in the southern Vietnamese city on Oct. 14. JA Miyagi Sennan officials said Southeast Asia is a potential market worth pursuing. The Japanese … Continue reading →