To showcase Canadian wheat's high quality, David and Scott recently organized a bread baking contest that required entrants to use flour containing a blend of at least 60 per cent Canadian wheat. David said he was overwhelmed with the response from 118 bakers from throughout Japan who entered this new contest. Twelve finalists were selected to participate in a bake-off. The two winners are receiving a trip to Western Canada next spring to learn more about Canada's baking and wheat industries. Another recent market development effort was the Canadian International Grains Institute Durum Wheat and Pasta program held in Winnipeg for 19 Japanese durum semolina millers and pasta producers.
Japan also imports sizeable volumes of Canadian malting barley in the form of malt.
In the 1999-00 crop year, Japan topped the list of CWB feed barley customers, buying 342,000 tonnes. With a limited amount of arable land available for growing animal feed, it's cheaper for Japanese beef producers to feed their cattle on imported feed barley. The Japanese also purchase small quantities of food-use barley used to make barley tea, a popular summer beverage, and pearled barley to be mixed with rice as a nutritional supplement. Japan is a key market for Canada. The CWB is committed to maintaining Canada's position as the top supplier of premium wheat to Japan, as well as working to find new markets for Canadian wheat and barley within Japan and Korea.