Japan has always been a key market for Italian premium brands but it’s confirming his strategic role with great performance in Food Service industry .
The overall Japanese food service industry increased in 2018 for the seventh consecutive year also due to the boost in non-Japanese restaurant sector .
Similarly to Thai situation , tourism is a key factor for a country that passed from 8.5 million tourists in 2012 to 32 million in 2018. The best performer in APAC .
Imported Italian Pasta volume is almost 3 times bigger than the second biggest market ( China ), with annual imported volume ranging from 66k to 75k tons in the 4 years . Consumer is mature and oriented to quality-products, in fact being De Cecco the absolute leader both in retail and food service .
General restaurants are the biggest part on total restaurant sales followed by sushi & noodle shop ( both of them very traditional and rooted in the consumers’ culture ) .
Probably the most interesting opportunities are coming from the expansion of HMR sector ( home meal replacement ) . More and more convenience-stores and retailers are offering HMR in a variety of recipes . Local taste is still absolutely dominating but more HMR based on Italian pasta are already generating really interesting figures .
The most important national food exhibition is Foodex held in March ( 2020 ) 10 to 13 .
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