Visitors line up in front of a sales booth for rice flour and rice flour products at a gluten-free foods fair in Madrid.
MADRID, Dec. 3 – Country Arroz Promote Network, a nonprofit organization working to promote Japan-made rice flour, on Dec. 1 became the first Japanese organization to participate in Festival del Celiaco, a major trade fair for gluten-free foods held in Madrid.
The event, the 35th of its kind, was organized by the Madrid Association of Celiacs and Gluten Sensitive People, with 50 organizations setting up booths, attracting more than 6,000 people in a day.
The network offered steamed buns and noodles made with rice flour for people to try, while selling Japan-made rice flour and noodles imported from Japan by a local wholesaler.
Gluten-free noodles were especially popular among visitors, and ramen noodles put on sale were sold out. “We sold a total of about 600 noodle packets,” said an official of Kobayashiseimen, a gluten-free noodles manufacturer of Gifu Prefecture, who was at the event.
An executive of a wholesaler from Panama, who held talks at the booth with officials of Kobayashiseimen and Oogata Village Akitakomachi Rice Producers Co. of Akita Prefecture, expressed intention to continue the talks, saying there is a great deal of interest in gluten-free foods among people in Central and South America as well.