2025.5.22
Our flagship product, "Pine Needle Extract," has received the highest ranking on Labdoor in the United States, raising expectations for increased credibility in overseas markets.
Kawabata Co., Ltd. (Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Representative Director: Yasutoshi Kawabata), a company that has adopted "Omakase Trade," an export support service for small and medium-sized enterprises provided by STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Akinori Adachi, hereinafter referred to as STANDAGE), obtained certification of conformity to the "JFS-B standard" (JFSM registration number: JFS-B25003212-00), developed and operated by the Japan Food Safety Management Association, in May 2025.
The JFS-B standard is Japan's first food safety management standard, and it evaluates hygiene management systems that incorporate concepts such as FMS (Food Safety Management System) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) in addition to the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) approach.
At the same time, Kawabata's flagship product, "Pine Needle Extract," received the highest possible rating of A from the US-based third-party organization "Labdoor." This internationally recognized and highly reliable certification and evaluation is expected to lead to the development and expansion of sales channels both domestically and internationally.
■ Utilizing "Leave it to us trading" to expand globally: Supporting the acquisition of certifications and evaluations that will become your weapons.
Since 2022, Standage has been providing "Omakase Trading," a service that comprehensively supports Japanese companies in developing overseas sales channels. Through this service, Standage provides multifaceted support from both marketing and sales perspectives, including overseas sales representation, overseas marketing, and e-commerce operation outsourcing, according to customer needs, and has supported the overseas expansion of nearly 300 Japanese companies.
While supporting Kawabata Co., Ltd.'s overseas expansion, we determined that obtaining certification for food safety standards that are applicable in overseas markets would be effective, and proposed that Standage obtain JFS-B standard certification. We provided support including research and proposals regarding the application procedures, and successfully obtained the conformity certificate in May 2025.
Furthermore, with the aim of increasing recognition and trust in the US market, we handled all the practical aspects of the application process to obtain and publish a rating on Labdoor, an independent US testing center. The company's flagship product, "Pine Needle Extract," received the highest rating of A.
■ Background to obtaining the "JFS-B standard," a Japanese food safety standard also adopted by major companies.
Since its founding in 1882, Kawabata has been providing health supplements in cooperation with domestic producers and contract farmers, adhering to the finest raw materials and traditional manufacturing methods. In 2018, it obtained HACCP certification certified by Nagoya City, and with an eye on future global expansion, it has now obtained JFS-B standard* conformity certification to further strengthen its quality assurance system.
JFS-B is a food safety standard that contributes to improving reliability in B2B transactions, and is a particularly important element for facilitating smooth transactions with overseas buyers.
This acquisition is expected to further enhance the credibility of Kawabata's products in both domestic and international markets.
■ Awarded the highest rating by the independent US organization Labdoor, proving the reliability of our flagship product, "Pine Needle Extract."
Labdoor is a US-based third-party organization that evaluates the nutritional content of supplements based on scientific evidence, rather than consumer reviews or advertisements. Their platform assesses the accuracy of ingredient analysis and product labeling, and publishes transparent reviews to the public.
Kawabata's pine needle extract (capsules) has received the highest rating of A from Labdoor. This is clear evidence that our flagship product meets international standards.
Labdoor's official website:https://labdoor.com/review/kawabata-pine-needle-extract
■ "A step towards a major leap forward" - Comment from Kawabata Publishing Co.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, developing overseas sales channels for supplements is a continuous series of challenges. Issues such as whether the factory is certified by the importing country, developing sales channels, export methods, and sales collection methods are almost impossible to handle internally. By utilizing "Omakase Trading," we were able to solve all these problems in one stop. Regarding factory certification, after comprehensively considering the "type," "cost," and "difficulty," we obtained the JFS-B standard proposed by Standage Co., Ltd., taking a significant step towards a major leap forward.
■ About Kawabata Co., Ltd.
Founded in 1882, this long-established company manufactures and sells health supplements, including "pine needle extract" made from red pine needles. They conduct joint research and experiments with Fujita Health University (Toyoake City, Aichi Prefecture). Their red pine needle extract has been found to contain more than 1,000 times the amount of polyphenols found in typical red wine, and possesses strong antioxidant properties. Kawabata's pine needle extract is a health food containing 18 types of amino acids, as well as iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, quercetin (a type of polyphenol), terpenes (components unique to pine resin), and antioxidants (SOD) said to remove active oxygen. Maintaining the traditional manufacturing method that has remained unchanged since the company's founding, the red pine needles and nuts are boiled immediately after felling, and after the nutrients are fully extracted, they are simmered for more than 30 hours to produce the extract.
■ About STANDAGE Co., Ltd.
Founded in March 2017. With a vision of "creating a world where all countries have equal access to all goods," 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. Seeing its main market to be emerging countries, including Africa, the company established a base in Nigeria soon after its founding and began trading with Africa. Not limited to the trade settlement field, the company 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.
For trade-related inquiries, please contact us here.