Unpasteurized sake delivered promptly via temperature-controlled air freight is gaining popularity; orders can be placed on the spot using e-commerce.

 

STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Akinori Adachi; hereinafter referred to as STANDAGE), a company that develops and provides digital trade platforms, held sake tasting events in Paris, France and London, England in May 2023 to increase awareness and cultivate customers for its export project specializing in Japanese food culture. On the day of the event, more than 100 visitors attended in total, including owner-chefs and chef sommeliers from local restaurants. Taking advantage of the system that allows for easy ordering on the e-commerce site, some visitors in both Paris and London placed orders on the spot. As part of this project, which is subsidized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, STANDAGE is developing a logistics network that enables door-to-door temperature-controlled small-lot transportation from Japan to overseas restaurants within 14 days using temperature-controlled air freight to destinations around the world. At the tasting events, unpasteurized sake, which has been difficult to transport in a timely manner while ensuring quality, and limited-edition products that are difficult to export in large quantities under normal schemes were particularly popular.

 

■ Overview

<Paris venue>

Date and Time: Monday, May 15, 2023, 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM (local time)

Venue: Ritz Paris / Salon Psyché

15 PLACE VENDÔME, PARIS, FRANCE

Participation fee: Free (Invitation only)

Organizer: STANDAGE Co., Ltd.

Cooperation: Issé & Cie

Pasona Agricultural Support Team

Supported by: Embassy of Japan in France

Number of brands offered: 50 brands (15 breweries)

 

<London Venue>

Date and Time: Monday, May 22, 2023, 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM (local time)

Venue: Shochu Lounge

37 Charlotte Street, London

Participation fee: Free (Invitation only)

Organizer: STANDAGE Co., Ltd.

Cooperation: Enshu Ltd.

Pasona Inc. Overseas Business Group

Sponsored by: Embassy of Japan in the UK

Number of brands offered: 50 brands (15 breweries)

 

■ Background and purpose of the event

While sake exports have reached record highs for 12 consecutive years, this success is largely due to large corporations. Small and medium-sized breweries lack the resources and expertise to export on their own, and many are struggling to develop overseas sales channels amidst a shrinking domestic market.

Therefore, Standage has been working since the spring of 2023 to export sake to restaurants and other establishments in Europe and America through its cross-border e-commerce site "YUKARI".

This initiative, subsidized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, is building a logistics network that enables door-to-door temperature-controlled small-lot transportation from Japan to overseas restaurants within 14 days using temperature-controlled air freight to destinations worldwide. This makes it possible to handle products such as unpasteurized sake, which previously had difficulty with quality control during transport and timely export.

 

Initially, this initiative focused on Paris, France, and London, England, and with the aim of increasing local awareness and developing sales channels, we held launch events, including tasting sessions and business meetings, in both cities in May 2023.

 

■Event details and achievements

In both cities, the events were free to attend and by invitation only. With the support of the local Japanese Embassies, attendees were primarily drawn from the restaurant and hotel industries through local partners.

On the day of the event, more than 40 people attended in Paris and more than 60 in London, including restaurant and hotel owner-chefs and head sommeliers, as well as media representatives, influencers, and embassy staff.

The venue featured a total of 50 different sake brands from 15 domestic breweries that have expressed their participation in this initiative. With the product catalog distributed on the day in hand, most visitors spent several hours carefully sampling every single sake brand.

This initiative boasts a strong emphasis on quality control, including temperature-controlled transport not only during air transport but also during collection and land delivery, which has resulted in particularly high demand for unpasteurized sake and limited-edition sake.

 

■ Visitor demographics

In both cities, the proportion of people involved in high-priced restaurants, which are the target market for this initiative, increased.

The ratio of Japanese food to non-Japanese food is roughly 50/50, reflecting the high level of interest in both cities not only in Japanese food and sushi, but also in pairing Western cuisine such as French food with sake.

Furthermore, the majority of visitors who made purchases on the day were restaurants with an average customer spend of €300/£ or more, offering set courses and sake or wine pairing menus.

 

■Visitor Feedback

While many visitors offered positive feedback, such as, "As this is a new distribution network, there were many brands I had never seen before, and I found the tasting very interesting" (Paris/Restaurant worker), and "Interest in sake is growing in Europe, and locals tend to spend money without hesitation on good products, so I think targeting high-end restaurants is a good idea" (London/Restaurant worker), some also expressed concerns about the price, saying, "There are many wonderful brands that I would love to do business with, but the prices are generally high for my restaurant. I understand that it's due to the cost of quality control, but it seems difficult for non-high-end restaurants to come to an agreement with the price they will offer" (Paris/Restaurant worker).

 

■ About transportation

In both Paris and London, deliveries for orders placed on the same day were made using temperature-controlled air freight, door-to-door, small-package delivery.

We have successfully delivered all ordered items within 14 days, as demonstrated, and have confirmed that the received products are of good quality and free from defects such as breakage.

Furthermore, this event has generated inquiries from outside Paris and London, and we are considering implementing a delivery function to these areas by around summer.

 

■Regarding the future

While continuing to support sake breweries considering exports, we will now focus on increasing our customer base, primarily in Europe, by further strengthening our collaboration with local partners, developing new customers, and providing support to existing ones.

Based on this experience, we will review the flow and system of our new logistics network utilizing temperature-controlled air freight, and strive to reduce logistics costs so that we can revise our sales prices.

Going forward, Standage will continue to contribute to sustainable sales for sake breweries throughout Japan and to the global development of Japanese food culture through the operation of its sake export platform "YUKARI".