47 Fresh From Japan opens shop at Tokyu
Tokyu Department Store has joined with Thai and Japanese firms to open 47 Fresh From Japan stores to sell Japanese agricultural and fishery products.
The first 47 Fresh From Japan store had a soft opening yesterday on the second floor of Tokyu Department Store at the Paradise Park complex on Srinakarin Road.
Takashi Hayano, chief executive of Tokyu Department Store in Bangkok, said the store offers one-stop service for sales of Japanese goods in Thailand, working with PT Retail Corporation, the operator of Tokyu Department Store in Bangkok, as well as Lives Inc, Mediator Co Ltd and Yamato Global Logistics Japan.
“The store combines the functions of the four companies, providing procurement of goods, imports and exports between Japan and Thailand, delivery, provision of retail places, and sales at physical stores,” he said. “We will help Japanese producers expand sales channels in Bangkok with ease.”
Lives Inc will handle resourcing products from Japan while Yamato Group will take care of logistics. Mediator, a business matching company in Thailand, is handling cooperation between Yamato Group and Bangkok Tokyu Department Store. The move is in line with the Japanese government’s goal to increase its exports of agricultural and fishery products.
This is also Tokyu Department Store’s strategy to turn its second floor into Shibuya Pedestrian Scramble, Mr Hayano said.
“Thailand is a strategic country for us to use as a gateway to export products from the 47 prefectures of Japan to Asean,” said Katsuhiko Umetsu, senior executive officer and managing director of international strategy development at Yamato Holdings Co.
He attributed the export of products to Thailand to the shrinking food industry market in Japan, thanks declining birth rates and an ageing population. Demand for Japanese agricultural and fishery products is increasing overseas, especially in Asia where rapid economic growth continues, Mr Umetsu said.
Notably in Thailand, due to the visa exemption agreement between the two countries, the number of tourists travelling from Thailand to Japan is increasing every year, he said, resulting in increasing popularity of Japanese food among Thais and the launch of many Japanese restaurants in Thailand.
About 990,000 Thais travelled to Japan last year, up from 920,000 people in 2016. The number of Japanese restaurants in Thailand amounted to 2,774 restaurants last year.
At the same time, with the implementation of health promotion measures by the government of Thailand, the public has become increasingly health-conscious, and the demand and interest in safe and high-quality foodstuffs produced in Japan is increasing in tandem.
Kantatorn Wannawasu, chief executive of Mediator Co, said 47 Fresh From Japan in the first stage will offer import and export procedures for fruit and agricultural products from Japan to Thailand, gradually extending to other items such as fish later.