SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION JAPAN 5companies across all segments of the
food industry are looking to boost
their bottom lines by satisfying the
growing Asian middle class’ appetite
for high-quality and healthier food.
“Currently Asia is the fastest grow-
ing economic block in the world with
an expanding middle-income class,
which are ideal conditions for our
business,” says Masayoshi Mizuno,
President of Hokuto Corp.
“I do feel that within the Asian
region, Japan has a reputation and is
acknowledged for always producing
and delivering high-quality products
that are safe and secure. Hence, when
consumers are posed with the ques-
tion whether to choose a cheaper
product or the safest one, I think they
would deinitely go for the latter op-
tion; that is one of Japan’s strengths in
order to gain customer’s trust.”
Hokuto Corp. is principally en-
gaged in the manufacture and sale
of different varieties of mushrooms
such shitake and Bunashimeji, as well
as the sale of cultivating machinery,
wrapping machinery and materials,
as well as wrapping materials, con-
tainers and machinery for food and
other products.
“Concerning the manufacturing
of mushrooms and in terms of the
Asian people’s diet, they are more
focused on consuming mushroom
related products than other parts of
the world. Therefore, from that per-
spective, it is easier for us to enter the
Asian market,” adds Mr. Mizuno.
“One of our key strengths is our
ability to promote high-quality and
healthy products. Take the example
of the Bunashimeji: irst, we begin to
explain what it is, what are its qualities
and advantages, how it is prepared
and inally how it can be incorporated
into different dishes. Asian consumers
used this information, started to buy
more and incorporate them into their
meals.”
While companies like Hokuto are
bringing high-quality food to the
Asian market; Tiger Corp aims to
leverage on the growing demand for
high-quality kitchen wares from Asia’s
expanding middle-classes. One thing
Japan shares with the rest of Asia is a
love of rice; and Tiger Corp is one of
the world’s leading manufacturers of
rice cookers.
“From Japan ́s perspective, Asia
has similar food habits to ourselves
and enjoys a preferable location; mak-
ing Asian countries a target market
with many beneits for Japan,” says
president, Yoshisato Kikuchi. “The
Asian market is seen as the market
with the most advantages because
of the close locality and similarities in
cuisine culture. Our rice cookers are
currently our most popular devices,
and we are currently focusing on new
innovations to further develop our
rice cookers.”
“We initially program our rice cook-
ers to best suit the country for which
it is destined to be sold in. Customers
are then advised as to the different
uses of the rice cooker. For example,
some of our products can also cook
bread, oatmeal and brown rice. We
adjust our product’s features to suit
the choices and preferences of our
clients.”
Aside from popular rice cookers,
the company also makes a number
of other kitchen items such as ther-
mal asks, food containers and water
heaters. While Tiger no doubt faces
competition in the Asian market, Mr.
Kikuchi believes its competitive advan-
tage is the high quality of its products,
which, much like the Japanese peo-
ple, live longer than those from other
countries.
“Japanese food is increasingly be-
coming popular and it does enjoy a
healthy image. American people may
eat rice at a sushi restaurant but not
at home. The largest market for our
rice cookers is people with an Asian
background.
“There are a number of selling
points which make our products a bet-
ter choice. To begin with, our products
have high-quality operations and are
produced using substantially higher
quality materials than lower priced
ones from competitors. The life expec-
tancy of our products is simply longer.
“Since Tiger was founded some 94
years ago, we have always aimed at
creating new products that are either:
one, not currently available in the mar-
ket; or two, that add higher value to
existing product. We have maintained
this value throughout our history.
While our industry has always been
highly competitive, we don’t consider
it important to compete in terms of
pricing. Instead, we believe in produc-
ing higher added-value products that
may be reected in a slightly higher
price bracket. The popularity of our
products therefore adds to our com-
pany’s value.”Q“Currently Asia is the
fastest growing economic
block in the world with an
expanding middle-income
class, which are ideal
conditions for our business.
One of our key strengths
is our ability to promote
high quality and healthy
products”Masayoshi Mizuno,
President, Hokuto Corp.Q“The Asian market is seen
as the market with the most
advantages because of the
close locality and similarities
in cuisine culture. Our rice
cookers are currently our
most popular devices, and we
are currently focusing on new
innovations to further develop
our rice cookers”Yoshisato Kikuchi,
President, Tiger Corp.