I have temporarily returned to Japan. I used the day to visit the 48th International Food and Beverage Exhibition (Foodex Japan 2023). Mr. Ochiai and Mr. Tsubota of Arujasu World, which imports and sells Azerbaijan food, which I met at a meeting in Azerbaijan last year, invited me to visit. At the venue, Big Sight Tokyo, I have exhibited and participated in many exhibitions such as Sea Japan and Travel Expo in the past, but I was honestly surprised by the scale of the exhibition, which was bigger than any other exhibition I have ever been to. 2,562 companies/3,144 booths (976 domestic companies/1,176 booths, 1,586 overseas companies/1,968 booths) such as food and beverage manufacturers and trading companies from 60 countries and regions around the world were exhibiting. It is reported that more than 17,000 people attended the event alone. It turns out that there are many companies in the food world that want to access the Japanese market.

Well, Arujasu World, which I was invited to this time, is a company that aims to realize a rich life through eating habits. Among them, the company is importing organic products from Azerbaijan. At Foodex, many countries have a place to exhibite, but Arujasu World is the only one that handles Azerbaijani foods. The eggplant paste and rose jam handled by Arujasu World are very delicious and I hope you will try them.

Many Japanese would not even be able to point out on a map where Azerbaijan is. You may have an image of a country rich in natural gas and petroleum exports, or the capital Baku with its many unique buildings, but I don't think you will imagine agriculture. It is true that even I, who lives in a neighboring country, does not have much information. It is bordered by Russia to the north, the Caspian Sea to the east, Georgia and Armenia, which conflicts over Azerbaijan by Nagorno-Karabakh and Iran to the south. In particular, I have never had a image of bordering with Iran. I did not report on LINKEDIN, but two years ago, I visited Azerbaijan with Mr. Kemal Shoshi Erdogan, who is the president of Yanmar Turkey, and went to the southern agricultural area near Iran to visit actual farmers and rice milling company and the companies that imports and sells agricultural machinery. As we drive from the capital Baku, the land turns from brown to green. The southern part will be an agricultural zone with irrigated waterways, and agriculture is the main agricultural zone.

From a business point of view, the Azerbaijan airline Silk Way Airlines is currently operating direct flights to Japan, so it is very possible to use that to import agricultural products. In addition, I think that sea transportation will be via Turkey, so it is difficult for one company to make one container volume for Azerbaijan products and Georgian wine export, which is also exhibiting at Foodex this time. I hope that we can help transporting products of them.

At next year's Foodex, I would like to help exhibitors from Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, which are suffering from the recent Russian invasion.

This time, Turkey also had a large pavilion that was comparable to other countries. I would also like to report of the export of Japanese food products. I will report on this in a separate post.

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Arujasu World Home (Only Japanese): Click here:

Arujasu World Azerbaijan Food (Only Japanese): Click here:

Foodex 2023: Click here: