TOKYO, Jan. 30 — Japan’s largest farmers’ group is to set up a subsidiary in Hong Kong in March, aiming to make it an Asian hub for Japanese farm and food exports.
The National Federation of Agriculture Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH), the marketing arm of JA group, said on Jan. 29 that the Hong Kong unit will be under its subsidiary ZEN-NOH International that deals with exports.
Hong Kong is the top destination for Japanese food.
In 2016, Japan exported food produce worth 185.3 billion yen to Hong Kong, accounting for a quarter of the nation’s total food exports.
Meanwhile, JA group has projected 3.5 billion yen of its food exports to Hong Kong in the year 2017 ending March 31. It now plans to boost exports to the city up to 5 billion yen.
The Hong Kong unit will aim to access to the best marketing data available in Asia, investigate what motivates Asian consumers and draw up sales strategies targeting local restaurants and supermarkets, ZEN-NOH said.