The U.S. Department of Agriculture's trade office in Osaka and a local food distributor will collaborate to open a special exhibition of American foods Sept. 11 in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture.
The Great American Foods display, the first of its kind in the Shikoku region, will take place adjacent to the city's main shopping arcade, and will introduce local consumers to a variety of American food products. The event is sponsored by both the U.S. government and Shima Chaho, a local distributor.
"The goal is to introduce foods not normally found on Japanese supermarket shelves and to gather marketing data rather than to compete head-to-head with Japanese retail establishments," said ATO Osaka director Daniel Berman. Shima Chaho will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the store, which will be both a showroom and a consumer test site. The store will initially open with products that are already found in Japan but are not widely distributed. Later, new food items will be introduced, according to Berman.