Voluntary Report - public distribution

**Date:** 1/30/2004

**GAIN Report Number:** JA4502

JA4502

**Japan**

**Market Development Reports**

**Food Business Line**

####### Periodic Press Translations from ATO Tokyo

**2004**

**Approved by:**

![](media/image1.wmf)Kevin Sage-EL, Deputy Director

ATO Tokyo

**Prepared by:**

Akiko Matsuyoshi, Marketing Clerk

**Report Highlights:**

From America's largest overseas food and agricultural export market as
translated from Japan's mass media and food industry news. This issue
includes: *Nakashoku* or home meal replacement (HMR) continues to show
growth; *Yoshinoya* *D&C's* initial reactions in the early stages of
Japan's ban on imports of U.S. beef; *Nathan' Famous* hotdogs arrive in
Japan; Japanese consumers are introduced to the first *natto* sticky
bean product made from U.S. GM soybeans; Japanese retailers begin
providing beef traceability information for consumers in advance of
Japanese law that will require it in December 2004 and; a supermarket in
Nagasaki prefecture mislabels imported beef as domestic in the midst of
Japan import ban against U.S. beef.

Includes PSD Changes: No

Includes Trade Matrix: No

Unscheduled Report

Tokyo ATO \[JA2\]

\[JA\]

![](media/image2.png){width="0.7423611111111111in"
height="0.6381944444444444in"}**Food Business Line**

> *Periodic Press Translations from ATO Tokyo Vol III, Issue 42
> December, 2003*

###### Retail/Wholesale

-   *Wal-Mart Stores* plans to open its first super center in Japan in
    Shizuoka prefecture in April 2004. (a 12/14)

-   Four major *nakashoku* (HMR) manufacturers that sell *bento* lunch
    boxes to retail outlets expect an increases in their consolidated
    working profits for the fiscal year ending in March 2004. It is
    mainly due to new openings of convenience stores and improved
    efficiency of these companies' factory operations. It is also
    because of the expanded *sozai* deli floors in supermarkets. (a
    12/19)

**[Food Service]{.underline}**

-   The Japanese food service market continues to shrink as more people
    prefer to eat at home, accelerated by the unseasonably cold summer
    in 2003. However, the market saw a 8% increase in total sales of 58
    major listed food service companies for the first half of the fiscal
    year ending in March 2004, according to the Food Industry News
    survey. It was mainly due to new store openings, mergers and
    acquisitions. (f 12/8)

-   U.S. major hot dog chain, Nathan's Famous, plans to open its first
    shop in central Tokyo on December 18. It plans to expand the number
    of outlets to 200 in five years. (a 12/13)

-   *Yoshinoya D&C*, a *gyudon* beef bowl fast food chain operator, will
    stop operating late at night due to the shortage of imported meat
    resulting from the ban on beef imports from the U.S. following the
    detection of BSE. About 99% of the roughly 30,000 tons of beef
    *Yoshinoya* uses each year is imported from the United States. The
    inventory will likely dry up at the end of January, so initially,
    *Yoshinoya* is planning to introduce substitute menus such as curry
    bowl and chicken/pork bowl. (a 12/30)

-   In a subsequent announcement, *Yoshinoya D&C* announced on December
    30 that they would stop the sales of *gyudon* beef bowl in mid
    February due to shortage of beef. (a 12/30)

**[Food Processing/New Products/Market Trends]{.underline}**

-   According to the *Food Industry News* survey on major food companies
    in Japan, total consolidated sales declined by 3.4% compared to the
    same period last year, based on the financial results for the first
    half of the fiscal year ending in March 2004. It was the second
    consecutive year of decline. (f 12/4)

-   A venture company called *A-HIT Bio* introduced a first GM product
    in Japan "*Natto no Susume*", a *natto* sticky bean product that
    consist of U.S. GM soybean imported from *Monsanto Japan*. (f 12/8)

> *ATO Note: Several of the investors for this natto product are former
> professors from the University of Hokkaido. In the beginning, sales
> will be handled over the Internet or by fax, according to instructions
> on their website. Natto is produced from relatively smaller soybeans,
> which are fermented. It is said that natto is high in isoflavones.*

-   *Acc*ording to the "World Health Report 2003" announced by the
    *World Health Organization* (WHO), Japanese men and women ranked top
    in the world for both the overall "average length of life" and the
    "healthy length of life" (or healthy life expectancy). "Healthy
    length of life" uses a new Disability Adjusted Life Expectancy
    calculation. It is measured by deducting the length of major illness
    or injury from the length of life. (a 12/19)

**[Food Safety/Consumer Awareness]{.underline}**

-   The beef traceability law took effect on December 1, 2003, obliging
    producers to assign identification numbers to all cattle raised in
    Japan and to keep historical records. The legislation will actually
    apply to retailers from December of the following year, but
    supermarket operators are starting to fulfill the requirements in
    advance to meet the growing consumer awareness on food safety. For
    example, starting December 12, *Maruetsu* will begin displaying
    cattle ID numbers on each beef package at all of its outlets.
    *Eco's* has begun to show cattle ID numbers on beef packages at an
    outlet that opened on Nov. 29 in Tokyo. *Tokyo Store* chain will
    also start implementing a similar system at an outlet on December 9
    and, plans to extend it to all stores by next October. *Aeon* also
    began a labeling system in 38 stores last winter. It gives the
    consumer the production history on domestic cattle. *Aeon* will
    expand the system to cover 105 outlets by the year's-end. (a 12/1)

-   Food companies such as *QP Corporation*, *Ryoshoku*, and *Ito-Ham*
    plan to unify the codes of processed foods with *NTT Data Systems*
    for use in a common traceability system. Among the 23 companies
    participating, some will establish a "Joint Traceability Center" by
    next May, aiming to promote the use of the unified codes. (a 12/5)

-   It was revealed on December 29 that a supermarket in Nagasaki
    prefecture falsely labeled imported beef as domestic in the hope of
    reviving sales affected by the news of BSE in the United States. (a
    12/30)

**[ATO/Cooperator/Competitor Activities/Trade Shows]{.underline}**

-   A venture company called *New Agri Network* plans to double the
    import quantity of strawberries from Tasmania in 2004 in response to
    increasing demand from Japanese western-style confectionery makers,
    hotels, and food service companies particularly in the summertime
    when domestic strawberries are out of season. (b 12/18)

** Sources **

\(a\) The Japan Economic Newspaper (b) The Nikkei Marketing Journal

\(c\) The Japan Food Journal (d) The Beverage & Food News Commentary

\(e\) The Japan Food News (f) The Food Industry News

DISCLAIMER - *Food Business Line* is derived from major Japanese news
wires, mass distribution press, and food industry newspapers and
magazines. Inclusion of an item in *Food Business Line* does not imply
agreement by USDA or U.S. Embassy/Tokyo; nor does USDA or U.S.
Embassy/Tokyo attest to the accuracy or completeness of the translation
of the news item. ATO Tokyo cannot further translate or send source
materials to users.