FOOMA JAPAN 2015

FOOMA JAPAN 2015, held June 9-12, 2015 at Tokyo Big Sight, is a showcase of products, technologies, and services for food processing and related operations, representing every link in the food-related equipment value chain. The tradeshow is an excellent venue for foreign companies in the food equipment industry to connect with potential customers, spot upcoming industry developments, and gain invaluable firsthand information about Japanese food culture and marketing preferences.

The Japanese food sensibility and this country’s ways of marketing can be so different, that it pays for foreign companies to either exhibit at the show, or at least send someone to walk it. Mr. Klaus F. Salein, Sales Manager at Chocal Aluminiumverpackungen GmbH (Germany) was here to explore and grasp the nuances of the Japanese wrapped-chocolates market.

“These characters they use are interesting,” he remarked, referring to the numerous brand and icon characters so often used in Japanese marketing. Mr. Salein had just discovered “Pekochan”, the cute bobbleheaded mascot which has represented the Fujiya brand of restaurants and confectionaries for over 50 years. The pigtailed Pekochan is a beloved pop culture figure known to every Japanese since childhood. Mr. Salein continued: “We would really like to see our superior aluminum foil packaging technology employed in manufacturing Pekochan chocolates!”

Mr. Braeutigam of GEA also liked the fact that Tokyo is a great venue for a food machinery show. “All the large Japanese firms have headquarters or R&D facilities in the vicinity,” he remarked. “A client’s entire R&D team may show up one day, and if we can’t answer their questions immediately, they’ll give us time to prepare, and return on a later day. You don’t find this kind of concentrated access to major players in Germany.”

Business was good for many companies. Ms. Ainhoa Etxeberria, Manager of DIMAQ XXI S.L. (Spain), a food processing equipment maker, had just arrived in Tokyo that day, and liked seeing the packed aisles. “Before I got here,” she remarked, “our distributor had already sold one of our chicken breast slicers.”

Said Mr. Hara of Morikawa, “We always get the most orders, even foreign orders, at the FOOMA show.” He remarked that many Asian visitors came to his booth, and he was seeing more Asians every year. By contrast, Ms. Etxeberria pointed out that “in European shows, you see many Asian people, but in Asian tradeshows, you don’t see many Europeans!”

Well, Ms. Etxeberria, we hope this report will encourage other European firms to come to participate and help right that imbalance!