Abstract
Tropical fruits are getting more and more popular in Japan. Historically banana is the top imported product in Japan. Due to local production of tropical fruits such as mango, Japanese consumers have more chances to purchase tropical fruits. According to the government's statistics of fruits import, dragon fruit does not appear on the list as its current imported quantity is much less than that of others. In the case of vegetables, lots of varieties of tomatoes are distributed in Japan. Primary value of popular tomato is its brix, which is one of the preferences of Japanese consumers. In order to meet those demands, Japanese growers are developing new varieties to make their business profitable. Distributors are promoting those high value products as “fruit tomato.” In terms of distribution, JA, Japan Agricultural Cooperatives, has been handling fruits and vegetables in the local market in Japan. This conventional distribution system is still a major channel in Japan, however, imported materials are mainly procured by large trading companies and those products are distributed through distributors. In both cases, distribution channel takes longer to reach the consumers. Although banana is the top imported tropical fruit in Japan, avocado shows remarkable growth record in the last decade. Compounded annual growth rate of avocado import is more than 10%. Major reason for this growth is that variety of recipe is introduced to consumers and longer shelf life supports lead time of product distribution in Japan. Based on the current situation of popular fruits and vegetables, key success factor to develop dragon fruit market in Japan is to control quality, brix, shelf life, distribution channel and price.
Keywords
Quality control, brix, shelf life, market development, distribution, promotion, nutrition