Popular in Southeast Asia as a convenient and delicious ready-to-eat food. In Africa, food banks are in high demand for it.

 

STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Akinori Adachi; hereinafter referred to as Standage), which develops and provides digital trade platforms, has begun offering the trade package service "Digitrad" to Green Design & Consulting Co., Ltd. (Meguro-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Koichiro Kasa; hereinafter referred to as Green Design) from September 2022. While they were struggling to develop sales channels overseas, where there is no custom of keeping emergency food on hand, Standage conducted local promotional activities mainly in Southeast Asia as "high-quality, halal-certified retort food that does not require cooking and can be stored for a long time." They received inquiries from Singapore and the Philippines, which led to the creation of regular overseas sales through the EC site.
Additionally, we collect emergency food stockpiles held by local governments and companies in Japan that are approaching their expiration date and deliver them to emerging countries in Africa, thereby contributing to reducing food waste in Japan and at the same time contributing to resolving food shortages and poverty in line with the spirit of the SDGs.

 

■ Background of the introduction

Due to its geography, geology, climate, and other factors, Japan is more prone to natural disasters than other countries, and is often referred to as a "disaster-prone country."

Having experienced and overcome many different disasters, Japan has an unparalleled variety of emergency food products in other countries, and produces and sells a large number of high-quality products that are not only delicious but can also be stored for an extremely long period of time, up to seven to ten years.

 

Green Design was founded in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and plans and sells preserved water and food products specifically designed for disaster preparedness, with the desire to "provide the necessary preparations for everyone in the country at that time."

Green Design's emergency food products have been recognized for their high safety and have been adopted by over 340 local governments, including Tokyo and Osaka, as well as being widely supplied to and stockpiled in public facilities such as airports and stadiums, as well as companies, hospitals, schools, and private homes across the country.

 

In recent years, taking into consideration diversity in nationality, religion, food culture, physical constitution, etc., we manufacture and sell emergency food that has obtained Halal certification, provides product descriptions in 30 languages, and is strictly free of 28 specified ingredients for food allergies and shellfish.

Believing that emergency preparedness is necessary in countries other than Japan as well, Green Design was proactive in expanding overseas. However, disaster prevention awareness is not as high overseas as it is in Japan, and the company was faced with the challenge of not progressing as expected in developing overseas sales channels.

 

In this situation, we came across Standage's all-inclusive trade package service "DigiTrad" and signed a contract in September 2022.

With Digitrad, even if you have not yet decided on a specific sales destination, we can take care of all of your sales channel development and overseas marketing.

 

■ Main services provided

Since the products are purchased domestically, manufacturers can export them with the same procedures and labor hours as for shipping domestically. Standage will handle all subsequent market development, contract-related work, and preparation of export-related documents.

At the same time, Standage will understand the manufacturer's products and conduct a survey of the local market and demand. Based on the results, Standage will carry out promotional activities such as exhibiting at exhibitions where local buyers gather, and will handle everything from inquiries to price negotiations, contracts, settlements, and transportation arrangements including samples.

 

As mentioned above, the habit of keeping emergency food on hand is not as well-established overseas as it is in Japan, making it difficult to create demand for products with a green design.

 

Therefore, rather than treating it as a "preserved food to be stockpiled for emergencies," we focused on the following points: "It can be easily eaten even without hot water or water," "It can be stored for a long period of 7 to 10 years," "It is delicious with a focus on flavor," and "It is halal certified and takes allergies into consideration, so it is safe." We then carried out local promotional activities, mainly in Southeast Asia, sales on overseas e-commerce sites, and various other marketing initiatives as a retort food for everyday use.

Since exhibiting at a food exhibition in Singapore, purchases by general consumers through cross-border e-commerce have gradually increased, and as of January 2012, we are receiving orders of several dozen items from Singapore and the Philippines almost every day.

 

Additionally, focusing on the fact that emergency food stockpiled by Japanese local governments, companies, and facilities is forced to be discarded when its expiration date approaches in order to be replaced, the organization is also working to collect this food and deliver it to emerging countries, such as those in Africa.

 

Green Design products have a seven-year shelf life, with a generous expiration date of around eight years from the date of manufacture, and can withstand temperatures ranging from 20 to 80 degrees.

These efforts are made possible by the fact that, despite being a food product, it can be transported by sea container at room temperature.

 

In January 2011, we actually visited a food bank in Nigeria and confirmed that there was a definite need on the ground.

In the future, we plan to continue and expand sales to Southeast Asia and other regions, and also to engage in activities to provide preserved food to Africa, as a way of contributing to solving both the food waste problem in Japan and the food crisis in emerging countries.

 

■Comment from Koichi Ryu, Managing Director and President of Green Design & Consulting

In the 1990s, I worked in the United States exporting cars to Japan, and I dreamed of one day being involved in exporting excellent "Made in Japan" products.

After returning to Japan, I started a business related to disaster prevention preserved foods, which has been adopted by 340 local governments around the country and has been very successful, but I have not yet been able to realize the dream of my younger days.

 

It was in this environment that we came across Standage's "DigiTrad" service, and were convinced that it would be an ideal service for our company, which is already extremely busy just dealing with domestic disaster prevention demand, so we signed a contract.

Not only do they hold thorough discussions in Japan, but they also always provide friendly advice, including for exhibitions overseas, and I am always amazed by their eye-opening, innovative and precise proposals.

 

Our company will continue to improve our long-term food preservation technology and strive to deliver Japanese food, which is renowned for its deliciousness around the world, to as many people as possible.

 

■ DigiTrad is introduced by a total of 100 companies in Japan

"DigiTrad" is a comprehensive trade package service developed exclusively by Standage that provides a one-stop service covering everything from sales channel development to negotiations, contracts, settlements, and administrative procedures related to logistics and customs clearance.

Due to the rapid depreciation of the yen in the second half of 2010 and the government's efforts to expand exports, Japan's overall export volume has been on a gradual upward trend. However, when looking at the export volume of small and medium-sized enterprises in urban and rural areas, the gap is still widening.

Digitrad was created as a package service to handle all aspects of trade, from market development to contracts, negotiations, payments, and logistics, to enable Japanese manufacturers, who face these challenges, to expand overseas more freely and easily.

Rather than being limited to systemizing some operations or providing consulting, this is a service that can "handle" the entire flow of trade. As of August 2011, the number of companies that have adopted this service has reached a total of 100.

 

◇For details on the "DigiTrad" service, please seeHere