Raising the profile of Japanese food and making buyer introductions. Japanese cuisine is now the fastest growing Asian category in the UK
Objectives
JETRO turned to Green Seed UK as their first ever UK consultant to help them drive new UK business opportunities outside the specialist ethnic sector.
Response
On a very tight timescale, we created a brand concept –Turning Japanese –and a marketing programme to introduce Japanese suppliers to UK buyers. We prepared bespoke briefing material on the UK food and drink market and supply chain and gave one to one advice to Japanese exporters on how to tailor their range and approach to meet the needs of UK customers. To supplement our own significant range of contacts, we devised and executed a marketing programme to recruit 140 buyers to a specially developed exhibition.
Results
Achieved a 72% conversion ratio of buyer attendance vs pre-registration. Facilitated buying introductions across a wide range of product categories –including Japanese Wagyu beef, soy sauce, rice, green teas and sake –with buyers from leading supermarket chains, speciality food stores and health food outlets, top restaurants and foodservice operators. Japanese cuisine is now the fastest growing Asian category in the UK market.