Message from the president

Turning Turbulence into Opportunity through Business Diversification

The world today is undergoing profound and rapid change.
In the United States, former President Donald Trump returned to office last year and introduced reciprocal tariff policies, reinforcing an “America First” brand of protectionism. In Japan, the inauguration of Sanae Takaichi as the nation’s first female prime minister has coincided with heightened friction with China. As hegemonic ambitions intensify and divisions within the international community deepen, Japan finds itself in an increasingly complex and challenging position.

For our company, a trading firm whose core business centers on the import and export of fresh food products and floriculture items, these growing geopolitical tensions have a direct and significant impact on our operations. In such turbulent times, we must respond flexibly to fluctuations in foreign exchange markets and shifts in national policies. Diversifying our procurement sources, sales destinations, and operational bases is essential to mitigating risk. In particular, the recent depreciation of the yen makes an excessive reliance on imports increasingly precarious, underscoring the importance of maintaining a balanced portfolio between imports and exports.

At the same time, these conditions present opportunities. From an overseas perspective, a weaker yen makes Japanese products more accessible, creating favorable circumstances for delivering high-quality Japanese food products to markets around the world. We are strengthening exports of fresh seafood, Wagyu beef, sake, seasonings, and other food products to Southeast Asia and the Middle East. As global demand for Japanese cuisine continues to grow, we see significant room for further expansion in our export business. Beyond simply exporting products, we are actively promoting the deeper appeal of Japanese food culture by hosting overseas seminars that convey seasonality, preparation methods, and culinary philosophy.

Our core import business—fresh Arctic salmon—has earned high praise through an uncompromising commitment to freshness and quality. Nevertheless, in light of geopolitical risks such as Russia’s prolonged invasion of Ukraine, we are also transporting salmon by air from Chile in parallel. This year, we plan to fully scale up our sea urchin production project launched in southernmost Chile. While we have primarily imported frozen sea urchin to date, we are applying ingenuity to quality preservation and logistics in order to deliver fresh, premium sea urchin to Japanese consumers. In addition, we are accelerating the launch of a seafood processing facility—centered on shrimp—near the Singapore–Malaysia border, serving as a hub to capture growing demand within Southeast Asia.

Another notable achievement is the strong performance of spray chrysanthemums cultivated at our wholly owned farm in Vietnam. Amid sluggish domestic chrysanthemum shipments caused by extreme summer heat, our emphasis on soil preparation—arguably the most critical factor in floriculture—enabled us to supply high-quality cut flowers consistently throughout the year. This has earned strong support from the domestic market. Having launched this business in 2008, we can now say that our Vietnamese chrysanthemum operation is fully on track, a milestone that brings us great satisfaction.