Exports of Japanese vegetables, fruits on rise

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dennis0bauer at 03:33 PM JST - 20th April

i feel another label scanal coming on
bakabaka at 04:06 PM JST - 20th April

For your information sydenham I live in the Japanese countryside and grow organic vegetables. True organic vegetable, not the Japanese way which is to use LESS chemicals. An awful lot of vegetables grown in japan simply rot because to be sold to the dummies in the cities they must be perfect and without blemish. Japan grows 0.2 percent of its produce organically, compare that with Britain that grows 5% organically. The negative comments on this post are due to the continued practise of japanese companies to label products so that they fetch the highest price. Ethics and honesty are not Japanese business practise.
sydenham at 04:11 PM JST - 20th April

Smithinjapan, yes, there is no denying that some of the companies in the business are corrupt, as you say.

I just think that the more interesting aspect of this news is not the potential for corruption, that will always be there. It's just ironic that only recently there has be such an issue made of the supposed lack of food self-sufficiency, while these guys are actually making money exporting Japanese food. I think the potential is there for Japanese to make big money exporting vegetables to exactly such a, relatively speaking, upscale market. There is a big market for Japanese farmers to tap into out there.

It's interesting that whenever my family comes to visit, we eat things like Japanese corn, potatoes, etc, and everybody comments on how much better the Japanese stuff tastes, compared to what's available in Canada Usually local, Californian, or Mexican produce.

I used to brag about Canadian stuff over here until I started actually eating the local stuff. I really had to swallow my pride. The Japanese seemed to be better at farming, even. They should be exporting their produce. I find it that good.
Mittsu at 04:35 PM JST - 20th April

The local apples are tasteless though.....
888naff at 06:31 PM JST - 20th April

"Japan grows 0.2 percent of its produce organically, compare that with Britain that grows 5% organically"

...Yeah but in Britain quite a lot of people buy organic just as a quality issue not an ethic issue. This is because the I would say the general quality of the "normal" veg etc is higher in Japan than in the UK. Therefore if shopping at the primary supermarkets in the uk where the lowest common denominator dominates, then if you really care about the taste of your food then organic is usually better tasting or has better quality - but in uk supermarkets this still is not great quality - not as say as you would pick up in a french street market.

Anyway the point being buying organic labels has different incentives indifferent places due the difference quality of the other products sold.

In Japan the incentive to be lured by an organic label in the local shop is I would say less than in a uk large supermarket.

Yeah i know a bit about what some folks point out about the supply process as my background was in uk farming.

Anyway it does seem strange exporting food sometimes. Also some countries will export only lower quality food to certain countries becasue they think the general level of food appreciation of the consumers is lower, eg UK. Hence just ship the mass produced stuff to them. Ship the quality stuff to more demanding markets. Bear in mind these decisions are based on sterotypes ( not every one is the same) and with lack of access to quality then thing ( in general) don't change so quick.

One big suprise of Japanese in UK that both are islands but buying fish in the uk is so difficult and expensive with even stories from fisherman that uk caught fish its shipped abroad to other countries in the EU where "demand" is higher.
outofmydepth at 07:07 PM JST - 20th April

yeah, let those affluent asians pay through the nose for an apple. and not as tasty as the roman beauties.
ilcub76 at 07:11 PM JST - 20th April

This seems like an oxymoron, considering that Japan's self-sufficiency rate is below 40%. If the farmers would use the land more wisely, growing needed food rather than 'luxury' food, maybe the self-sufficiency numbers would rise.

‘‘Odama (large round) apples that do not sell much in Japan are popular in China and Europe,’’

If these apples don't sell in Japan, destroy the orchards and grow something that will sell in Japan.
masami1129 at 07:50 PM JST - 20th April

in that case we must aware for that product.
30061015 at 11:18 PM JST - 20th April

If the farmers would use the land more wisely, growing needed food rather than 'luxury' food, maybe the self-sufficiency numbers would rise.

Wise or unwise, Japan always seeks to export its way out of the box instead of stimulating domestic growth. There are not enough farmers to use the land "wisely", hence, much of the land is not used at all.
Pukey2 at 11:30 PM JST - 20th April

The local apples are tasteless though.....

Don't know about apples, but Japanese oranges just can't compare with American ones. The Japanese ones can be damn right bitter and dry. Give me the Californian ones anyday.

I don't understand why some people equate high prices with quality. Japanese people are brainwashed into thinking that the 4000 yen mango from Okinawa is the best there is. Give me the 250 yen Indian mango anytime. The Indian ones are to die for.

I saw a programme the other day where the local strawberry farmers were complaining that the Koreans stole their seeds and started growing them in Korea. Well, deal with it. If the Koreans can supply the same stuff at cheaper prices, then good for them.
smithinjapan at 11:46 PM JST - 20th April

Pukey: "I don't understand why some people equate high prices with quality. Japanese people are brainwashed into thinking that the 4000 yen mango from Okinawa is the best there is. Give me the 250 yen Indian mango anytime. The Indian ones are to die for."

I agree with you 100%. While there ARE some noticeably better tasting foodstuffs sold in Japan, there's a whole lot worse as well, but people often claim that simply because it's more expensive it's more delicious. An interesting program that ran on Japanese TV some time ago was one in which celebrities were given the most expensive crab you can eat in Japan, and also given your get-anywhere minced pollock (fake crab meat for salads and what not), and more than half of them could not tell the difference. There were a few less 'UMAI!' and 'Ooooiiiissssshiiiiii's that came out when they know for a fact in other shows it's the expensive stuff (because they didn't want to look stupid if they messed up), but seriously all of them would make errors at some point. Other noticeably funny ones were comparing Yubari 'black melons' with a simple 400 yen melon, and people didn't know; Matsuzaka steak with Aussie beef, etc.

The point is, you TELL someone here that it's made in Japan and jack up the price, they'll often buy it and BELIEVE it tastes better. But I suppose if you've let yourself be fooled you can enjoy something whole-heartedly.

Anyway, I didn't come on here to pick on the fact that people think something more expensive is therefore better, but to talk about Japanese produce in general.
elbudamexicano at 06:12 AM JST - 22nd April

Japan's vegetables are a joke! They are way over priced and take strawberries, here they don't even have a nice fragrance. Back home, if you have some fresh strawberries in a bowl, your whole room will have a wonderful sweet aroma, here in Japan?? Just your eyes will be teased and then your palate, but for god's (budhha's sake) how can you have strawberries without that lovely fragrance! Time to import REAL strawberries from MEXICO!
stipend at 11:52 AM JST - 23rd April

‘‘We want to offer safe farm products that will appeal to affluent Asian people who are very conscious about health,’’

So what of Japan's food security? A "grow it here eat it there" policy in a country which can't produce enough for its own people? It's nuts. We eat today because we are the affluent Asians, we can bring it in (at the moment). Just look around. This could easily change.

Back home, if you have some fresh strawberries in a bowl, your whole room will have a wonderful sweet aroma

Ain't it the truth!
sabiwabi at 02:04 PM JST - 23rd April

Back home, if you have some fresh strawberries in a bowl, your whole room will have a wonderful sweet aroma, here in Japan?? Just your eyes will be teased and then your palate, but for god's (budhha's sake) how can you have strawberries without that lovely fragrance!

Maybe something happened to your nose after coming to Japan. Get it looked at.
ca1ic0cat at 02:50 AM JST - 24th April

Exports of Japanese vegetables, fruits on rise

No wonder Akihabara is less crowded...