NZ exports - Asleep at the wheel

If New Zealand food exporters are to increase market share in Japan, they not only need to view the road ahead but also the ability to see around corners.

Screening on Tokyo TV this week ‘Gaia no Yuake’ a business TV documentary program will look at the availability of organic food in Japan and follows growers and marketers as they attempt to find ways to reduce the retail price for consumers and encourage retailers to stock more organics.

If consumer interest following this program is similar to other Japanese TV documentary viewer trends, NZ organic and natural food exporters could benefit from the resulting ‘spike’ in consumer interest. 
There are examples of similar documentaries being the catalyst for influencing consumer trends in Japan, this could do something similar.

With the recent food safety issue in Japan that centers on a rouge chemical found in a gyoza dumpling that poisoned 10 people has emphasized the benefits of organic food and consumer advocate groups have been quick to seize the opportunity, however for most Japanese families organics, particularly imported organic food is still an expensive commodity.

Never the less, if there was ever a time to sell New Zealand as a safe food producer, now is it.

Or perhaps this is maybe another case of 'opportunity lost' for New Zealand value added exports, as a documentary made by a credible organisation and aired at prime time in Tokyo, which in marketing terms is worth many thousands of dollars, screens with no sight of a NZ export strategy to immediately capture consumer interest.