Inbound tourism from Asia is booming, exceeding pre-COVID levels; "Sake" is being used as a point of contact to encourage visits to regional areas.

 

STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Akinori Adachi; hereinafter referred to as STANDAGE), which develops and provides digital trading platforms, Mitsubishi Corporation (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Katsuya Nakanishi; hereinafter referred to as Mitsubishi Corporation), and ABC Cooking Studio Co., Ltd. (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Narumi Shimura; hereinafter referred to as ABC), which operates cooking schools in Japan and Asia, will jointly launch a promotional event project for Japanese sake and Japanese products aimed at regional revitalization.
The first phase will target Singapore, and from December 2023 to February 2024, ABC will hold cooking classes at its local studio focusing on pairing local cuisine with sake. The sake featured will be available for reservation and purchase on-site, and depending on the purchase amount, participants will receive benefits such as sake-making experiences at the respective breweries, thereby encouraging inbound tourism to the production areas.

 

■With a global sake boom underway, we want you to know about hidden gems from regional areas.

Exports of Japanese sake to overseas markets have been steadily increasing year after year, setting new record highs for 12 consecutive years since 2010, indicating a definite rise in overseas interest in Japanese food and sake.

On the other hand, sake exports are heavily concentrated among large sake breweries and well-known brands, and small and medium-sized breweries often find it difficult to enter the export market due to issues such as lot size limitations and a lack of their own resources.

 

While popularity tends to be concentrated on well-known brands, we believe that through this event project, we can introduce hidden gems from all over Japan to the world along with their local history and culture. This will stimulate the desire of various breweries and brands in each region to explore new products, leading to the creation of export opportunities for small and medium-sized breweries and attracting inbound tourism to production areas.

 

■Highly acclaimed European brands to Singapore; purchase includes an invitation to a sake-making experience.

The first installment will be a "1-day lesson" (no membership fee required, one-time lesson) focusing on pairing local cuisine with Japanese sake, held at ABC's Singapore studio from December 16, 2023 to February 6, 2024.

The sake offered will come from three breweries that Standage has contracted to support for export: Mizuguchi Shuzo (Ehime Prefecture), Yoshikawa Jozo (Kanagawa Prefecture), and the Yamagata Prefecture Sake Brewers Association, which has a unified prefectural brand. Although none of these breweries have yet entered the Singapore market, they were selected because they have received high praise in Paris, France and London, England, and have sold dozens of bottles or more, during Standage's export support efforts.

 

ABC will then develop dishes that pair well with these sakes, and local ABC instructors will promote the appeal of sake to participants through cooking lessons. ABC members in Singapore are mainly young women with high disposable incomes who have a strong interest in food and share the dishes they make in lessons on social media. By targeting these members and conveying the appeal of sake, ABC aims to spread information widely.

 

Furthermore, Singapore, being a multi-ethnic nation, is characterized by its tolerance and interest in foreign food cultures. Its distance from Tokyo's Haneda Airport (approximately 7.5 hours) also makes it an attractive destination for inbound tourism.

Furthermore, Yamagata Prefecture has one of the highest average income levels among Southeast Asian countries, and it is a fertile ground for accepting high-end brands handled by Standage, including the unified brand "Yamagata Sanga" from the Yamagata Prefectural Sake Brewers Association. For these reasons, it was chosen as the location for the first event. Sake will be available for purchase on the day of the event, including reservations. Depending on the purchase amount, participants will receive benefits such as invitations to sake brewing experiences at each brewery, aiming to attract inbound tourists to the production area.

 

■Regarding the workshop (pre-event) to be held on November 25th

Prior to the start of lessons in December, we held a workshop themed around Japanese sake at ABC Cooking Studio in Singapore on November 25th.

On the day of the event, participants enjoyed pairing Singaporean cuisine with sake while learning about sake. The event was a great success, with over 230 people applying for the 60 available spots.

On the day of the event, the sake breweries themselves visited the site and gave direct presentations to the participants about the local history and culture, its appeal as a tourist destination, and their commitment to sake brewing.

We had anticipated selling 60 bottles of sake on the day, but we received orders for around 80 bottles, including pre-orders.

 

According to a survey of participants (conducted and compiled by ABC), 96% answered "yes" to the question, "Did this event deepen your knowledge of Japanese sake?"

Furthermore, in response to the question, "How interested are you in visiting sake-producing regions?", more than half answered "5," the highest possible value, indicating high expectations for stimulating inbound tourism demand.

▲Presentations by participating breweries (Left: Ehime Prefecture/Mizuguchi Brewery, Right: Kanagawa Prefecture/Yoshikawa Brewing)

 

■Regarding the collaboration between the three companies

To achieve the major objective of this event project, which is regional revitalization, we will combine the strengths of three companies: Mitsubishi Corporation, which has connections with local governments and project management capabilities; ABC, which has local subsidiaries and extensive experience in implementing and managing events overseas; and Standage, which provides a door-to-door logistics network using temperature-controlled air freight (*).

Going forward, we will not only focus on sake, but also shine a spotlight on the cultures and specialty products of various regions of Japan, promoting their appeal to consumers overseas, thereby increasing the number of Japan fans, and promoting collaborations that will give back to each region.

 

*The construction of this logistics network for transportation to Southeast Asia is being undertaken as part of JETRO's (Japan External Trade Organization) support program for diversifying overseas supply chains.

 

■About Standage

Founded in March 2017. With a vision of "creating a world where all countries have equal access to all things," the company is developing a new trade settlement system that utilizes blockchain and stable coins to enable the safe, secure, and inexpensive simultaneous exchange of "goods" and "money" regardless of region or country. The company sees its main market as emerging countries, especially in Africa, and has established bases in four African countries, including Nigeria, to carry out trade business with Africa. It is not limited to the trade settlement field, but develops and provides systems that realize digital transformation for the entire trade system, including market development, ordering, and international logistics, while also working to support exports by small and medium-sized enterprises in order to increase the number of new domestic trade players.

 

■ About ABC Cooking Studio

https://www.abc-cooking.co.jp/

ABC Cooking Studio is one of the world's largest cooking schools, with approximately 1.68 million members in Japan and overseas (as of October 2023). Since December 2010, it has expanded its services to eight countries and regions overseas, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia, primarily in Asia. Under the corporate philosophy of "bringing smiles to dining tables around the world," it offers services such as "ABC Cooking Studio," where students can learn cooking, bread making, and cake making; "abc kids," a cooking studio for children as young as four; and "1-day lessons," which are one-time sessions with no enrollment fee, conveying the importance and joy of "homemade food" to its students. In addition, it also operates regional revitalization projects through recipe development and consulting using local specialties, media businesses aimed at product promotion, and a staffing business (ABC Job Studio) that provides personnel support to companies and local governments.