JAPAN

The promotional and advertising campaigns that have been performed since 2000 in Japan have been undertaken by PRAP JAPAN company from 2005 on. Below is a summary of the activities organised in Japan. A Japanese website called www.turkish-hazelnut.org was prepared to support the activities in Japan. First of all, a “Turkey-Japan Promotion Committee for Turkish Hazelnut” has been established by Toyota Tsusho Co., Toyo Nut Co., Tomen Co. and Shoei Foods Co companies and Cosmopolitan Confectionary Co., all of which are members of Japanese Union of Hard Shell Fruits, in order to make cooperation in the advertising and promotion activities in Japan. During the discussions with representatives from Turkey-Japan Promotion Committee, information was obtained about the trend in shelled fruit sector and the current status of hazelnut. Consumer surveys were performed both online and in-situ formats and the results were used to create the main slogan and the message. FTG has prepared a 9 sqm stand to participate in the Foodex 30 th International Food Exhibition which is held in Chiba/Japan and is known to be the most important exhibition in the Fareast in the food and beverage sector.

A booklet named “Turkish Hazelnut Booklet” was published to include the production of Turkish hazelnut, types of hazelnut, applications, nutrition and health data and recipes of meals and desserts with hazelnut and delivered as an attachment to the “Ryori Ohkuku” magazine which is one of the leading gastronomy journals in Japan.  There are ongoing preparations to establish a Taskforce for Pastry and Confectionary Makers and to publish a calendar that contains recipes of meals and desserts with hazelnut. 4 cooking classes have been opened in Japan’s prestigious cooking school Le Cordon Blue; Tokyo, Kobe and Yokohama. These classes were attended by 115 consumers and 7 media representatives, mostly consisting of females at their thirties. A seminar for bakers were organised in Yamagata in cooperation with Japanese Confectionary Associations. This activity was participated by 62 manufacturers who are members of FJCA Yamagata Branch. A seminar was held in Tokyo targeted at confectionary manufacturers. 57 manufacturers attended the activity. Discussions with the leading cooks in Japan revealed technical and preferential differences between large and small cities with regard to bakery trends, and promotional activities have been revised to increase the popularity of hazelnut which is not well-known even by professionals particularly in small cities. A committee consisting of Japanese importers, manufactures and media representatives was invited to visit the hazelnut production areas in our country to see the hazelnut fields, processing plants and chocolate factories, and the committee attended the 2005-2006 Hazelnut Season Opening ceremony in Akçakoca. The “Japan Cake Show” in Tokyo was attended. This show is the number one activity in Japan in the bakery sector. The Hazelnut Promotion Group stand in this activity was visited by 2500 people most of whom were from the bakery sector. They were given hazelnuts, hazelnut products and promotion materials.

Calendars containing recipes of hazelnut meals and desserts were published and distributed to industry representatives.

Meiji, Morinaga, Fuji Pan, Afternoon Tea and Nestle companies launched new hazelnut products in 2005 for the Japanese market.