No. 30: 多角化すべきは市場 (November 2, 2009)
日本の農産物が競争力のある輸出品として注目されている。2008年の農産物の輸出は、5,078億円で、04年比で1.4倍に増加している。最大の輸出先は香港であるが、米国が第二位であることが注目され、中東では日本製ミネラルウォーターの人気が高まっている。近隣アジア諸国の生活水準の上昇が大きな要素であるが、それ以上に、農家の努力を賞賛すべきである。輸出品というと工業製品をすぐに連想するが、農産物の輸出もこれから大きく伸びる。お米のコシヒカリやイチゴのとちおとめは、トヨタやパナソニックと同様に、日本が生んだ偉大なブランドである。国内市場を細分化するだけでなく、市場を世界と考えて、世界市場を細分化する努力が必要である。蓄積された先進の生産技術、高度の品質管理のノウハウを適用して、海外諸国の料理にあう農産物の生産に焦点を合わせると、もっと市場は広がる。技術をベースにして市場を多角化することが、最善の戦略といえる。 (Written by Shigeo Sunahara of CBC, Inc.)
What should be diversified is the market.
Farm products have been attracting strong attention lately as competitive products for export in Japan. Japanese exports of farm products in 2008 increased to 1.4 times to about \510 billion over 2004. The largest importer is Hong Kong, but it is noteworthy that the U.S. is the second largest importer of Japanese farm products and that Japanese mineral water is growing popular in the Middle East. The increase, of course, is mainly due to the increased living standard of Asian countries, but what matters more is the efforts of Japanese farmers to increase the quality of their products. It is easy to associate export products to industrial products, but exports of farm products are expected to grow. Koshihikari of rice and Tochiotome of strawberry are world-class Japanese brands like Toyota and Panasonic. It is vital to segmentalize not only the Japanese domestic market but also the global market. With accumulated advanced production technology and sophisticated quality control know-how, Japanese farmers are asked to make their products saleable in the global market so that they are suitable to specific world cuisines. What is important is always to diversity the market on the basis of technology.
What should be diversified is the market.
Farm products have been attracting strong attention lately as competitive products for export in Japan. Japanese exports of farm products in 2008 increased to 1.4 times to about \510 billion over 2004. The largest importer is Hong Kong, but it is noteworthy that the U.S. is the second largest importer of Japanese farm products and that Japanese mineral water is growing popular in the Middle East. The increase, of course, is mainly due to the increased living standard of Asian countries, but what matters more is the efforts of Japanese farmers to increase the quality of their products. It is easy to associate export products to industrial products, but exports of farm products are expected to grow. Koshihikari of rice and Tochiotome of strawberry are world-class Japanese brands like Toyota and Panasonic. It is vital to segmentalize not only the Japanese domestic market but also the global market. With accumulated advanced production technology and sophisticated quality control know-how, Japanese farmers are asked to make their products saleable in the global market so that they are suitable to specific world cuisines. What is important is always to diversity the market on the basis of technology.
