According to analysts, the Japan supplement market is forecast to hit ¥1,181bn by 2021, rising at around 1% annually...but where could additional growth come from?
Supplement and functional food firms looking to enter the Japanese market with new products tailored for the ageing population must overcome high levels of brand loyalty to stand any chance of success, according to one expert.
DuPont is targeting innovation at both ends of the age spectrum as it seeks to meet the vast needs of Asia's ageing societies, while also helping infant formula firms overcome considerable pricing and regulatory challenges.
The 2020 Olympics, 2019 Rugby World Cup, and the ageing population are contributing to ‘huge demand’ for protein products across Japan's sports nutrition and functional food space.
Japanese consumers have little knowledge of saffron - either as a food ingredient or a supplement - let alone its potential cognitive health benefits. But one man is on a mission to change that.
Japanese snack giant Calbee’s operations have returned to normal, following a potato shortage that disrupted the production of 15 its potato chip brands.
Japanese ingredient giant Morinaga is hoping for a South East Asia sales boom for its 'immunogenics' probiotic LAC-Shield product after recently receiving halal accreditation.
The sheer scale of demand for Australian and New Zealand goods in China has been revealed in a striking report—though indications suggests that cross-border e-commerce might soon have reached its peak.
The Japanese government is backing moves to boost food exports by supporting a new trade show – Japan’s Food Export Fair – being held next month in Chiba.
Sapporo Holdings will acquire Anchor Brewing Company, maker of Anchor Steam beer, in a deal which will bring the California-based brewer to new international markets.
Japanese food giant Ajinomoto has fired up its European growth plans with the acquisition of France’s frozen food business Labeyrie Traiteur Surgelés (LTS) for an undisclosed sum.
Japan’s top cattle and meat producers are gearing up to compete in the country’s next ‘Wagyu Olympics’, the country’s premier beef cattle show, to be held in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, on 7–11 September.
US-based beef and pork supplier Creekstone Farms has been sold by Sun Capital Partners to Japanese trading conglomerate Marubeni Corporation for a fee thought to be $170m.
Last week the EU and Japan agreed to a bilateral trade agreement, which will set significant duty-free quotas on EU exports of ingredients such as starch, butter, whey and processed foods.
Japan’s largest potato chip producer Calbee (with a 73% market hold) has restarted sales of the country’s most popular snack it suspended in April due to a severe potato shortage.
Eighty per cent of food and beverage companies have increased their consumer prices in the last six months, even though production costs for manufacturers have dropped over the same period.
Muslim students have been enlisted by a Japanese condiments manufacturer to help develop a new halal soy sauce which it hopes to begin exporting to Southeast Asia later this year.
A Japanese company that designs and develops small odour-imaging sensors is in the final stages of testing what it claims to be the world’s first e-commerce website on which consumers can search and select products by aroma.
The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is partnering with supermarket chains and event organisers in Japan’s regions to strengthen already high US red meat sales by localising marketing, public relations and consumer interaction campaigns.
Nissin is preparing to enter China’s “shining” potato chips market in a bid to open up a new revenue stream beyond its traditional instant noodles empire.
Tastes are changing fast in Japan, where younger consumers are adopting more Western foods, traditional dishes are fusing with Spanish ingredients and snacking is on the rise.
Functional soups featuring botanical and herbal ingredients such as ginger, ginseng and cordyceps are ripe for new product development in Japan, with the ageing population a particularly lucrative target market.
Japan now accepts the use of imported organic certified animal feed from countries that share an organic equivalency arrangement with it, according to the USDA.
Japan’s meat consumption broke new records in the 2016 fiscal year (April 2015 to March 2016) according to recent data, with projected year-on-year growth set to be the fastest in five years.
Poor social support, economic disadvantage and frailty have been identified as key factors for low dietary variation and therefore poor nutrition among elderly Japanese adults.
A door-to-door food delivery service linking vendors in Japan with customers in Thailand will launch next week to tap into the increasing Far Eastern food fad in Southeast Asia.
Researchers have developed gluten-free bread with the same fluffy, bubble texture as wheat bread - without using any additives or gums - simply by using rice flour that has been milled and processed in a specific way.
European dried, cured and smoked meat producers are poised for a rapid expansion of export sales to Japan, with growing demand for such products that cannot be satisfied by Japanese specialist producers.
Feed manufacturers in Japan, under pressure in recent weeks due to a supply shortage of corn arising from the cold weather in the US, told Reuters the crisis has eased.
Japanese firms can tap into rising demand for organic and natural produce and products in the US by learning best practices and getting to grips with the latest market trends.
Increasing the shelf life of halal products is the single factor that could help Japanese firms boost sales to the Middle East, and in turn help meet the government’s 1 trillion yen target for food exports by 2019.
How gut microbiota composition changes with age has been charted using state-of- the-art DNA sequencing in Japan, revealing which strains are most prevalent at different stages of life.
