YAMANASHI, Ju. 13 – On July 15, a local agricultural cooperative in Yamanashi Prefecture (JA Minami Alps City) began hosting an all-you-can-eat event with locally-grown peaches, which are currently in high season. A trial event on July 11 already attracted many visitors from inside and outside the prefecture. The event takes place in Michi-no-eki Shirane, a local JA-run farmers’ market. You will have 30 minutes to spoon up peaches from a water pool and eat as many as you can. The JA prepares approximately 30,000 peaches of several local varieties, such as Akatsuki, Hakuo, Alps Bejin, and Natsukko, and expects to welcome 45,000 people at the nine-day event. One of … Continue reading →

TOKYO, July 11 — Yotsuba Milk Products Co., a major dairy products maker based in Sapporo, Hokkaido, will open its directly managed store at the Yebisu Garden Place shopping complex in Tokyo’s Ebisu district on July 13. Yotsuba Milk Place will offer some 90 consumer items including dairy products. The company will also open a directly managed store in Osaka on July 31. It hopes to increase recognition of the Yotsuba brand among consumers in major cities. Yotsuba Milk Products has a target of raising the ratio of consumer products in its sales from the current 30% to 50%. The 260-square-meter shop in Ebisu will undertake efforts to strengthen promotions. … Continue reading →

OKINAWA, July 4 — JA Okinawa, an agricultural cooperative in Okinawa Prefecture, has put on sale JA Okinawa Premium Mango, Okinawa-grown mangoes that meet its new quality criteria. The farm coop created a new standard, which requires the same level of sugar content as Chura Mango — Okinawa-grown mangoes of superior quality that meet the strictest standards — but is less strict on the size and blush color. By creating the new standard, JA Okinawa hopes to secure sufficient amount for shipment and strengthen consumer promotions. To be labeled as JA Okinawa Premium Mango, the fruit needs to weigh 350 grams or more and have sugar content exceeding 15%, with … Continue reading →

FUKUOKA, Jul. 4 – The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH) is teaming up with Chiikawa, a popular Japanese manga/anime, at Minori Cafe Fukuoka PARCO. On July 4, the cafe in the department store in Fukuoka City on the Kyushu southernmost island of Japan started to offer a limited menu featuring domestic ingredients-milk from Fukuoka Prefecture and fruits from Kyshu. The menu includes three types of yogurt drinks that look like Chiikawa characters enjoying (frozen!) onsen hot spring. You can choose the topping from fig or seedless Kyoho grape from Fukuoka or mandarin oranges grown in greenhouses in Saga Prefecture. Yogurt made from milk from Fukuoka is placed in … Continue reading →