Fisheries processorsof Ishinomaki jointly aiming to expand sales channelsThe Great East Japan Earthquake imparted huge damage to the fisheries industry of Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture. Two years later, “Hitakami-nokuni” was established by fisheries processors of that city. The group name is derived from the story that the region of Tohoku was once called “Hitakami-nokuni” because the sun rose here earlier than in Yamato. The brand exports oysters and other marine products of Sanriku with a view to expanding sales channels.The brand was initially launched by five companies: Suenaga Kaisan Co., Ltd., Yamasakousho,Inc, Yamatomi Co., Ltd., Yamagataya Syouten Co., Ltd., and Maruhey-Katsuobushi Co., Ltd.Mr. Yasushi Kotouno, who is an executive officer of the representative company, Suenaga Kaisan, and man-ager of the group, explains the events that led to establishment as follows: “Formation of the group originated out of our joint participation in reconstruc-tion events that were staged in depart-ment stores, etc. in Tokyo area around six months following the Great East Japan Earthquake. Before the disaster, we were rivals, however, during the events, our friendship was deepened and a willingness to cooperate for the sake of reconstruction developed.” Road to survival overseas created by difficultiesThe trigger that caused the group to shift attention overseas was participa-tion in FOOD EXPO, Hong Kong’s largest general food trade fair, in 2012, before the group was even formed. Suenaga Kaisan Co., Ltd. and Yamasakousho,Inc. exhibited products in this trade fair thanks to introduction by JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) Sendai. Mr. Kotouno says that visiting the trade fair made him revise his thinking about exporting. “Before the earthquake, Suenaga Kaisan’s main customers were super-markets in Japan. We never even considered overseas, but, the sheer vitality of Hong Kong surprised us. We felt that Asia still had lots of room for expansion, and we were confident that we could export products.”Another background factor was that, due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, production had stagnated and supermarket shelves had come to be filled with the products of rival companies.“Since supermarket management conditions were becoming harsh due to population decline, we already had a sense of urgency that we could no longer depend only on supermarkets, and must develop new sales channels. However, without any opportunities for change, we had been gradually grow-ing more and more frustrated. You could say that because everything was reset as a result of the disaster, we had no choice but to take on a new chal-lenge.” Flexible deploymentof products according to customers’ needsThe group commenced exports at an event held in a Hong Kong department store in 2013, however, Mr. Kotouno reflects that “the response was slug-gish due to pricing issues and so on”. A turning point arrived one year later.“Realizing that restaurants were willing to purchase expensive ingredi-ents on an ongoing basis, we subse-Looking to 203001Hitakaminokuni2030Road to Reconstruction3,000●Establishment of the Hitakaminokuni brand●Start of exports initially (Hong Kong)2013Export value [Unit: 10,000 yen]From January to December4,000●The number of participating operators increases to 13●Harmful rumors have an impact20153,50020163,200●Start of exports of oysters with shells20177,500●THAIFEX 2014 (Thailand)●Participation in FOOD TAIPEI 2014 (Taiwan)20144,0006,0008,00002,000Support is offered for an NPO’s plan to plant 150,000 trees in a national park. The goal is to create an abundant ocean and abundant fishing grounds through creating forests and allowing nutrients to flow into the sea.Creating a natural circulatory cycle and preserving the abundant oceanwaters of SanrikuHead offices and plant of Suenaga KaisanE3
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