Food fallout
October 11, 2011
In one of the walkways between the main halls of the biennial Anuga food and drinks trade fair in Cologne, placed strategically in the same way that supermarkets often exhibit their special offers of the day, a joint stand hosting about a dozen companies from Japan could be found.
They were all looking to either break into or grow within European marketplaces, but it's not been an easy year to do that after the Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered a meltdown due to damage incurred during the massive earthquake and tsunami that killed some 16,000 people in north-eastern Japan.
One of the stalls at the Cologne exhibition offered pre-packaged noodles and noodle-meals that have been on sale in some German supermarkets for eight years now.
"Year on year, our sales had been growing," Shinji Harada, the business development manager for noodle manufacturer Itsuki foods, told Deutsche Welle. "But unfortunately in the last few months, due to radiation issues, all Japanese products have been halted."
Although an import ban on Japanese food and drink was mooted in parts of Europe, it was never implemented, but customs tests and checks have multiplied, meaning that Harada's clients in Germany had a gap on their shelves for months as one shipment suddenly took far longer to arrive.
"But now, we restart it, and the Japanese supermarket in Düsseldorf said that in September they got our product again," he said, referring to his main German client, based of course in the city with Germany's largest expatriate Japanese population.
In many European countries, not least Germany, the news coverage of the Fukushima nuclear problems quickly eclipsed that of a dual natural disaster which claimed 16,000 lives - and the Japanese nuclear story was additionally fueled by domestic debates on power policy.
Geographic blind spots
Harada was standing patiently at his sometimes quiet stand - he's drawn the short straw operating right next-door to a popular stall offering sake - with a display of his products and a preparation table behind him.
"Our clients still want the products," he said. "It's a problem of customs clearance, normally it takes just a few weeks, but now it's a couple of months, and so the supermarket has to wait. We also have to prepare a lot of documents in Japan before exporting to Germany, saying that there's no radiation and so on."
Harada confessed that this can be annoying, not because of Germany's cautious reaction to the problems at Fukushima, but because of where his company is based. Itsuku foods is based in Kyushu, about as far west as it is possible to go in Japan without leaving the main islands. His base is roughly 1,800 kilometers from Fukushima, which is about the distance between Berlin and Madrid.
"We are not involved at all - but for overseas people, Japan is Japan," he said. "It's not just Germany; we have had similar problems with all countries in Europe."
At a nearby stall, the Japanese Rice Exporters association also reported organizational difficulties in 2011, but said they were not aware of any drop in demand.
Fresh fruit en route
Another company, Ito Noen, has started exporting fruit products, including mican (a Japanese fruit very similar to the mandarin, satsuma or clementine), juices and jams to Europe. Working with a wholesaler specializing in Japanese cuisine, the small family firm is trying to get a foot on the European ladder.
"It's our first time at Anuga this year, but we have had an importer based in France for the past three years," said company founder Osamu Ito.
Based in the Wakayama prefecture, Ito Noen's mican groves are roughly 11 hours drive from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
"But because of this accident in Fukushima, customs have become slower and the market is down, it has stumbled a bit. But that's not just because of Fukushima, the Japanese yen is currently very strong, while the euro is weak, meaning that exports have been slow for most Japanese industries," said Ito.
The Ito Noen company is at a sufficiently fledgling stage on the international market not to be troubled too much by such a dip, with its first concern being to find and titillate a market with a taste for sweet oranges, tangy limes, and other such fruits.
"I thought we wouldn't be able to sell mican products in Europe, but it's a different taste, and that seems to be an advantage. Watching the reactions of people trying it here at Anuga, they're so positive that I hope and feel that we will do well in the future," said Ito, standing next to his daughter and second-in-command.
The Anuga food and drinks exhibiton, which was opened by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Saturday, runs through October 12 with over 6,500 exhibitors from over 170 countries around the world.
Author: Mark Hallam, Cologne
Editor: Michael Lawton