"A journey to simplify you" A lifestyle of mindfulness with Japanese green tea

Aug 18, 2020

The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center (JFOODO) will roll out a new Japanese green tea promotion for the US market beginning in August 2020.

The promotion will feature Marie Kondo (also known as KonMari),*1a tidying expert, best-selling author and Emmy-nominated television star as the campaign spokesperson. Marie Kondo regularly drinks Japanese green tea and has had a close relationship with the drink from a young age. She learned about it from her grandmother, a Japanese tea ceremony master. Together with actress Nikki Reed, the Twilight Saga star, they will introduce the wonderful world of Japanese green tea. The promotion will kick off with a campaign video that will show the audience how to simplify their life and mind with Japanese green tea.

A campaign video of Japanese green tea

Millennials*2 who have high purchase intent for Japanese green tea value not only the product functions, but also its rich history, and the visions and stories surrounding the producers.

The promotion site was revamped this year to become a source of information for various Japanese green teas and their usage as well as highlighting tea farmers and distributors in Japan. The campaign will share their ideas, stories, and masterful techniques through blog articles and social media contents. Also, a brand video will be launched in September with the theme of "A Journey to Simplify You”. It will depict everyday mindful moments experienced by Americans with diverse lifestyles gained through Japanese green tea.

「The promotion site of Japanese green tea」

Furthermore, the campaign will support existing online sales channels in the US (primarily Amazon.com) for Japanese businesses by serving digital promoted ads designed to give easier access to their products and expand the market.

The US green tea market is currently worth approximately166.4 million USD. The export value of Japanese green tea to the US nearly doubled in the last five years to approximately 60 million USD in FY2019, and it is expected to grow in the future.

Due to millennials interest in mindfulness, the campaign draws attentions to Japanese green tea and its high concentration of theanine. Theanine suppresses the tension in the central nerve system cause by caffeine and releases the tension of your body and mind so you can be in a state of mindfulness. The campaign shows how the unique value of theanine differs from coffee and black tea to unwind both mental and physical tension. Japanese green tea is the perfect mindful beverage for all consumers and their lifestyles.

*1 Marie Kondo's Bio
A tidying expert. Her book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up," has been translated and sold in over 40 countries and the series is a global best-seller with over 12 million copies sold. In 2015, she was listed as one of the "100 most influential people" by American magazine Time and her consulting practice has expanded beyond Japan.

*2 Millennials
The generation born between 1981 and 1996 (age 24 to 39 in the year 2020).

*3 The reason for the large concentration of theanine in Japanese green tea
Cultivating the varieties of Japanese green tea – especially gyokuro, matcha, and kabusecha –involves covering the plants to shield them from sunlight. By thus impeding the conversion of the theanine in the tea leaves into stimulating, energizing catechin, the tea contains a large quantity of theanine.