Parfait using Yamagata Benio, a new large-size cherry variety with high sugar content, offered at Shiseido Parlour in Tokyo’s Ginza district in limited quantity
TOKYO, June 25 — Marketing campaigns for cherries are intensifying as many large-size, photogenic cherry brands have debuted in recent years.
Yamagata Prefecture is widely promoting its new cherry variety Yamagata Benio which made a full-scale debut this year.
The new variety is promoted among a variety of people from wholesalers to young people to increase its brand recognition to become the driving force for the growing region.
Aomori Prefecture is seeking to attract new customers to boost consumption of its cherry variety Juno Heart by selling the cherries in a package that looks like a jewelry box.
High-end parfait
Yamagata Benio is known for its size as big as a 500-yen coin, with the fruit often graded as 3L or 4L, which means measuring 28 millimeters or more in diameter. It also has a good flavor and remains fresh for a long period.
Roughly 20 tons of Yamagata Benio are expected to be shipped this year.
“We hope it will help raise the growers’ income and improve the prefecture’s brand image,” said an official of the Yamagata Prefectural Government’s division which promotes horticulture as the prefecture’s major industry.
Meanwhile, an official involved in the distribution industry said, “The brand recognition of Yamagata Benio among consumers needs to improve more. The key to boosting consumption lies in how much the brand awareness can be increased.”
With the variety having made a full debut this year, the prefectural government and agricultural cooperative are organizing campaigns targeting wholesale markets in Tokyo and Osaka, as well as consumers in and out of the prefecture.
They are taking promotion measures by making use of the big size.
Shiseido Parlour, which has its main restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza district, is offering a parfait topped with six Yamagata Benio cherries in a limited quantity until early July.
The parfait is sold at 6,000 yen, nearly double the price of its parfait that uses Sato Nishiki cherries, the main cherry variety of Yamagata.
The high-end parfait is well received, with 15 to 20 sold every day, according to the restaurant.
The Yamagata government is also working together with a tour bus that offers afternoon tea while driving through Tokyo. Parfait and other desserts using cherries will be served in the tour.
It hopes the fruit will be promoted through social media so that it will “become better known among younger generations,” said an official of the prefectural government’s agriculture policy planning division.
Packaged in a jewelry box
Aomori Prefecture is pushing Juno Heart by taking advantage of the large-size, heart-shaped photogenic fruit.
The prefecture expects to ship some 11 tons of Juno Heart this year, the fourth year after its debut.
Aomori Heartbeat cherries, the upscale version of Juno Heart, are sold at department stores, with two each carefully packed in a stylish box like pieces of jewelry.
The cherries, priced at 1,080 yen a box, are proving popular as gifts or treats.
Starting this year, the high-end cherries have been recommended for use at weddings, with a view to make them more widely known among women and young people.