With the aim of supporting the EU food producers in Japan, the EU-Japan Centre is offering the opportunity to selected EU SMEs to virtually exhibit during ifia the International Food Ingredients & Additives Exhibition and Conference in Japan.

ABOUT THE MISSION

The EU-Japan Centre will be attending the International Food Ingredients & Additives Exhibition and Conference (ifia) held in Tokyo on 18-20 May 2022. ifia is Japan’s largest food ingredients & additives related event.

Selected EU participants will be promoted as co-exhibitors of the EU-Japan Centre’s booth, where posters, flyers and eventually samples will be displayed by the EU-Japan Centre’s staff.

Before the event, the EU-Japan Centre will also promote the participants profiles on ifia’s website and through the Centre’s EEN Japan’s newsletter. The scope is to optimize the virtual participants’ visibility during the 3-day event.

If Japanese companies show interest in meeting an EU participant, the EU-Japan Centre will help arrange an online meeting.

Additionally, the Centre can provide reports and references related on functional food or raw material sectors in Japan.

OBJECTIVES

This mission aims at facilitating EU participants’ first step in Japan, and to open new business opportunities in the country.  
 
The goals are:  
1.    connect EU participants with potential Japanese partners
2.    boost EU participants’ visibility in Japan
3.    learn about latest trends of the sector in Japan from the potential partners

BENEFITS OF EXHIBITING AT IFIA

Ifia is a one-of-a-kind event, organised by a media company specialised in this sector and that build a strong network of Japanese companies around it. taking part in ifia would be the opportunity for EU participants to reach upstream companies in the Japanese food industry.
 
This 3-day physical exhibition usually attracts over 36,000 visitors. Please note that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of visitors in 2022 could be different.

Visitors at ifia are classified in two categories:
•    “Manufacturers” producing ingredients, raw materials, additives, health foods/supplements and beverages.
•    “Non-manufacturers” such as buyers/traders of ingredients or food retailers/distributors.    

EVENT OUTLINE

International Food Ingredients & Additives Exhibition and Conference
•    URL: https://www.ifiajapan.com/en
•    Dates: 18-20 May 2022
•    Application deadline: Thursday, 31 March

TARGET COMPANIES

This event is addressed to EU SMEs in the following sectors:
1.    functional ingredients for processed food (e.g. nutrient-dense oils, grains)
2.    health foods/supplements
3.    seasonings/extracts
4.    flavours & spices
5.    emulsifiers & stabilizers
6.    food tech sector could be considered as well

For more details about ifia covered sectors:  https://www.ifiajapan.com/en/outline

ELIGIBILITY

The candidate must:
- be a citizen of an EU Member State (or of a COSME partnering country);
- work for a company that is > 50% EU (or COSME partnering country owned);
- work for an organisation that is an EU (or COSME partnering country juridical person);
- work for a Small or Medium sized Enterprise (SME) operating in the target sectors;
- the company must be the manufacturer / producer of the product;
- have a reasonable command of English;
- agree to cooperate to provide feedback after the event.

SELECTION

Representatives of EU SMEs can apply for the mission until 31 March.
In early April we will inform selected companies and give more detailed information on how the Mission is going to take place.  

The main criteria for selection will be:
1.    the innovative aspects of the product/service offered by the company and their market potential in Japan
2.    previous experience with the Japanese market
3.    relevance of the company product for the trade fair attendance

The number of available places is limited to 5.

WHO PAYS WHAT?

The EU-Japan Centre covers all exhibiting-related costs such as trade fair registration, booth rental & arrangements, posters and flyers materials for promotion, etc. To gain more meeting opportunities, the EU-Japan Centre also covers (if needed) interpreters’ fee for virtual meeting with Japanese counterpart for the limited period of two weeks after the exhibition.

Costs related to the eventual shipment of samples will have to be covered by the participating company.