Webinar 118: The Cheese Market in Japan

What opportunities does the cheese market in Japan offer to EU companies?

Japan has a short history of eating cheese that is not part of the traditional cuisine. More than 50% of the cheese consumption is processed cheese, and about 35% of the imported natural cheese is used for domestic production of processed cheese. In recent years, the Japanese imports of cheese is increasing, and, in particular, imports from EU. The growing wine consumption has resulted in increased sales of cheese as Japanese consumers perceive that cheese goes well with wine. The cheese consumption, however, is very low with about 2.4 kilos per person and year. To expand the sales of European cheese it will be necessary to work more on promotion including sampling/testing at exhibitions and events. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) will lower the tariffs on cheese over a period of 16 years. This will likely increase the consumption of European cheese in Japan.

The webinar is targeted to European SMEs seeking to understand the current status of the Japanese cheese market and the potential business opportunities arising from it.

Registration deadline: 28/05/2018

What you will learn during this webinar?

In 40 minutes from your desk, you will discover:

• An overview of the Japanese cheese market including trends and challenges
• Who are the domestic key players
• The current tariffs on imports and the changes induced by the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement
• The different distribution channels
• Business opportunities for EU SMEs

Programme:

• Introduction
• Expert’s presentation
• Q&A Session
• Conclusion

Speaker: Conje Hallström (Gambit International). Mr Hallström has more than 40 years of experience in EU-Japan government relations, especially in industry, trade and business. After having been trained at Keidanren, METI and the Foreign Ministry in Japan, Mr Hallström was assigned as expert of EU-Japan relations at the European Commission. Since 1983 Mr Hallström is President/CEO of Gambit International, a consulting agency specialised in EU-Japan-Asia relations located in Tokyo. Mr Hallström is author of Japan Marketing Handbook, EU seminar speaker, and author of many articles in international media.  
Moderator: Gwenael Beauvais - Business Support Coordinator, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation
Organiser: EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation - Brussels Office

After Event Information