Japanese food businesses are increasingly turning to domestically grown vegetables in the face of risks to procuring supplies of foreign products.
Japan’s farm ministry says imports have accounted for around 30 percent of vegetables used in restaurants and other food businesses over the past two decades.
Vegetables grown overseas can be bought in large quantities at relatively low cost, but now moves are underway among food-processing companies to increase purchases of homegrown vegetables.
Delica Foods Holdings, whose mainstay products include precut vegetables, is planning to reduce its reliance on onions from China. It struggled to secure stable supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company plans to boost the proportion of domestically produced onions to about 80 percent from the current 40 percent by around 2029. It says it will curb procurement costs through long-term contracts with farmers and improved logistics.
Delica Foods President, Osaki Yoshiyasu, said ” Imports could stop in future, not only for economic reasons, but for a variety of factors. I think it is important to grow vegetables in Japan to avoid such a situation.”
The farm ministry is also studying ways to boost the use of Japanese vegetables through consultations with stakeholders including producers, wholesalers and restaurant operators.