Japan trade show to host Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery cheese

February: A time of hearts and date nights and elongating days and sniffs of spring and — international trade shows?

That’s right. Next month, Japan’s 59th Super Market Trade Show takes the love-month stage from February 12 to 14, existing as perhaps the most on-brand Valentine’s Day celebration a dairyman or cheesemaker could partake in.

Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery has been personally invited to be featured at the show; representatives will host an expo booth full of information about our Guernsey milk cheese.

The event, held in a convention center just outside of Tokyo, is put on by the National Supermarket Association of Japan, a retail-focused organization that conducts surveys, research, educational training, publications, and exhibitions, all concerning supermarkets.

According to the official Supermarket Trade Show website, it is meant to be a “business meeting for the retail industry” that “provides the latest information on supermarkets and the distribution industry.”

The gathering offers “the latest information on the food distribution industry, focusing on supermarkets. It gives you an opportunity to meet leaders from the retail, wholesale, and food service industry, and to find new partnerships, new networks, and new trends for helping your business.”

This year, more than 2,195 companies are projected to attend the show, exhibiting 3,521 booths. Of those, 105 are from overseas (Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery included), representing 140 booths overall.  

A research project conducted by the National Supermarket Association of Japan called “Food Trend Zone” will showcase the new research categories "Time efficiency × Food" and "Protein × Food.” These topics (and the already established “Frozen x Food” and “Inbound x Food”) are meant to provide visitors with products and information on consumer trends and potential food service solutions.

For example, the “Time efficiency x Food” exhibition will cite “the demand for simplicity and shortened cooking times,” leading to the need for meal kits and microwavable products. The zone will offer potential products, information, technologies, and services that will lead to time-efficient cooking and meal consumption.

If you’re a cheese lover like Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery (and, assumedly, given our invitation, Japan), there truly is no better place to venture than a supermarket trade show in the middle of February.  

Follow along with pre- and post-show happenings here in Creamery Notes and at www.hoardscreamery.com and https://www.smts.jp/en/.