Japanese food companies are switching to local vegetables

Japanese food companies are increasingly turning to domestically grown vegetables in the face of the risks of sourcing foreign produce. This is reported by NHK World Japan. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture says that over the past 20 years, about 30% of vegetables used in restaurants and other food businesses have been imported. Vegetables grown abroad can be bought in large quantities at a relatively low price, but now food companies are trying to increase their purchases of home-grown vegetables. Delica Foods Holdings, whose main product is sliced vegetables, plans to reduce its dependence on onions from China. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has struggled to ensure stable supplies. The company plans to increase the share of domestic onions to about 80% from the current 40% by about 2029. It says it will reduce procurement costs through long-term contracts with farmers and improved logistics. President of Delica Foods, Osaki Yosiyasu, said: “Imports may stop in the future not ...