• Tokyo opens biggest food exhibition in Asia

Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The biggest food exhibition in Asia opened its doors again on Tuesday as 2,879 companies from around the world crammed into the Tokyo Big Sight event hall for the 49th edition of Foodex Japan.

In all, there were 3,913 booths for food fans and trade representatives to visit, representing 68 countries from Brazil to Belgium and Egypt to England.

Numerous special events kept visitors interested, with top chefs, dieticians, influencers and even mascots providing entertainment.

Linah Farms represented the Arab world with their Medjool dates, which they are trying to introduce to the Japanese market. The dates are grown at Egypt’s Bahareya Oasis, which has the ideal climate for growing as well as rich soil, no pollution and plenty of sunshine.

“I think the Japanese market has great potential and I feel that the interest in Medjool dates is increasing every year, so I think it’s time to penetrate this market,” Linah Farms’ Export Manager Ahmed Abdelhady told Arab News Japan.

The company already exports to other Asian countries such as China and Malaysia.

One of the surprising exhibitors at Foodex was Ukraine, which had a sizeable booth and a broad range of products from corn flakes to sunflower oil to drinks and dried fruits.

“We have good agriculture, and we produce many products,” Vladimir Ruban of food manufacturer Teppa told Arab News Japan. “We use millet, oats, barley and wheat.”

Ukraine’s ability to produce food products remains strong; its ability to export them has become a problem, but Ruban says they have managed to overcome this. “It’s difficult, but our company has already found various ways and we’ve had the opportunity to overcome our problems. Fortunately, our business is stable now, but of course there is a risk for the whole of Ukraine, but we continue to work on this.”

Ruban and his fellow exhibitors still have three more days to find more business as Foodex will run until Friday afternoon.