Montague, PEI -
One of Japan's largest food importers is coming to Prince Edward Island to talk turkey about the future of the Land of Anne supplying beef to the Land of the Rising Sun.
A representative of Maruha Nichiro Holdings, a company described as the big tuna on Japan's sushi tray, has accepted an invitation from the PEI Rural Alliance to discuss the potential of marketing Island beef to the enormous Japanese market.
"They are interested and they are sending a representative to meet with us," said Peter Llewellyn of the Alliance, who accessed his contacts from 30 years in the worldwide fish-selling business to make the connection.
However, Llewellyn said selling anything to Japan is more than just packing up a box and hoping for the best.
"The onus is on us to present what we're prepared to do when it comes to developing a new brand that comes from the land of Anne and is highly regarded in Japan," he said.
"They just don't buy helter-skelter, they want to know what we would commit to as far as developing our beef as a market in Japan."
The issue of enhancing the market in Japan was sparked by the Rural Alliance, along with the Eastern PEI Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Agriculture, which joined forces last week to launch a provincewide meat-buying campaign to help stricken beef farmer Sterling Mitchell who is on the verge of losing his Village Green farm.
Llewellyn said both he and chamber president Blair Aitken, also in the fish industry, began pursuing the idea of developing a Japanese connection for Island beef to help the crisis in farming and rural PEI.
Maruha gets 75 per cent of its sales-estimated at over a billion annually-from its seafood division. It also has food divisions in the red meat and vegetable and fruit sectors.
Total revenues for the fiscal year in 2009 were almost $9 million, according to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
"The Japanese want the best and that's our challenge, but I know our farmers can do it," said Llewellyn.
A meeting is expected within the next week (early July) and if the first meeting is successful, Llewellyn said the next step is to take the idea to Japan before company brass. - The Guardian
