TOKYO, Aug. 4 — The National Federation of Agriculture Cooperative Associations known as JA ZEN-NOH began distributing milk to hotels free of charge to be offered to guests as welcome drinks.
By taking the move in cooperation with Resol Holdings Co., a hotel chain operator in Mobara, Chiba Prefecture, JA ZEN-NOH hopes to support dairy farmers by boosting raw milk consumption during the summer holidays when school lunches, where milk is a regular part of the menu, are suspended and demand for milk shrinks.
It is the first attempt by JA ZEN-NOH to collaborate with the hotel industry that enters a busy season during the period.
Three milk brands will be offered at six hotels in the Tokyo metropolitan area this month through Aug. 24.
A refrigerator containing 200-milliliter cartons of the milk brands — Rakuou Gyunyu from Rakuou Kyodo Nyugyo in Fukushima Prefecture, Nokyo Gyunyu from Kyodo Milk Industry Co. in Tokyo and Mainichi Gyunyu from Nippon Dairy Co-operated Co. in Osaka — will be set up at the hotels’ lobby and guests will be offered a pack each as a free welcome drink.
A total of 5,000 packs will be offered between Aug. 1 and Aug. 24 until the supplies last.
“During the summer and yearend and new year holidays when school lunches are suspended for a long period of time, demand drops especially for milk,” said a JA ZEN-NOH official.
“We hope people will reacknowledge the good taste of milk and that it is rich in nutrients.”
A refrigerator containing cartons of milk will be set up at hotel lobbies. PHOTO COURTESY OF JA ZEN-NOH