TOKYO, Dec. 31 — Shinmei Co., Japan’s largest rice wholesaler and owner of Genki Sushi, has tied up with Singapore’s food and beverage company BreadTalk Group to export wheat grown in Japan to the global market.
Kobe-based Shinmei and BreadTalk have set up a joint venture, BTG-Shinmei Venture, with a capital of 3 million Singapore dollars, according to a Dec. 22 press release.
BTG holds a 66 percent stake, while Shinmei owns the remaining 34 percent, it said.
Shinmei officials said that BreadTalk Group had already started selling some bread that use Japan-grown wheat at its outlets and wants to introduce more items that use high-quality Japanese wheat.
BreadTalk Group, founded in 2003, has about 1,000 bakery and food outlets in 17 countries, including China, Malaysia and Thailand.
It also owns and operates the world-renowned Din Tai Fung restaurants as well as Food Republic food atria. In 2018, it will open its first Din Tai Fung outlet in London.