A Taste of America
Travelers to Japan have long been shocked by the outrageous food prices there, which Japanese consumers too had to pay because there was so little choice at the market. Now an expanding variety of imported foods is finding its way onto Japanese shelves, and shoppers are opening their mouths and pocketbooks to such American novelties as tortillas, Velveeta and microwave pancakes.
Japan, the world’s second most lucrative food market, is far more open to imports now, thanks to a variety of factors; these include hard-won agreements in which the Americans gained wider market access. Because newly price-conscious Japanese are looking for less expensive alternatives, retailers are on the prowl for deals and they are finding more of them outside Japan because the strong yen makes food imports cheaper.
So shoppers at the Maruman supermarket in Tokyo can find sliced peaches and orange marmalade, developed in a deal with Albertson’s of Boise, Idaho, for at least 30% less than Japanese brands, The Times reported recently. Broccoli from Salinas sells for 99 cents a head, a third cheaper than the home-grown variety. Shoppers forgo Japanese beef at $5.20 per 100 grams (3.5 ounces) for an equal portion of American beef for $2.25.
Fickle consumers are a market challenge to Japan’s notoriously closed distribution systems, which traditionally have favored producers and manufacturers while punishing retailers interested in discounting. Foreign companies have been burned by the old price-setting practices. Now, declining domestic food production is helping to open the market a little more. The offspring of Japan’s aging farmers are not following in their fathers’ work boots.
Sales of imported vegetables are expected to rise to $11 billion over the next decade from $1 billion in 1993. California farmers already grow cherries, pumpkins and many other kinds of produce specifically for Japan. But not all attempts by U.S. farmers are sterling successes. Washington apple growers had an encouraging first year of exports in 1995, but sales this year have plummeted 90%, in part because the only two varieties allowed into Japan were the two least likely to appeal to Japanese tastes.
The United States has long maintained that Japanese consumers would benefit from competition spawned by opening Japan to more imports. Savvy consumers are the best judge of that. But will they take to some of the latest American offerings, say ostrich meat?
