TOKYO: Department store operators in Japan are preparing for a wave of Valentine’s Day-related shopping from later this month with unique products such as socially conscious gifts and extremely expensive items aimed at capitalizing on “revenge consumption” demand.

Takashimaya Co. is selling four chocolate products marketed as gifts that tackle social issues such as food waste, including “Cake Aux Bananes,” which uses bananas that are discarded for their appearance although there are no issues with their taste and quality.

“We are proposing to resolve social issues through chocolates, which are familiar to us,” a Takashimaya representative said.

Matsuya Ginza, operated by Matsuya Co., will donate part of its sales of certain chocolate products to nongovernmental organizations aiming to tackle poverty and discrimination.

The company partnered with female chocolatiers, farmers and sake brewers who support efforts to aid girls in poverty to create “Setouchi Chocolat,” which uses lemons and sake produced in the western prefecture of Hiroshima.

Meanwhile, department stores are hoping to meet demand for “revenge consumption,” or buying to satisfy demand suppressed during the novel coronavirus crisis, with lineups of expensive brand gifts from Japan and abroad.

The Seibu main store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district, run by Sogo & Seibu Co., leads the way with a product with a price tag of 330,000 yen.

The gift was developed jointly with globally renowned pastry chef Pierre Herme, with a focus on Japanese tea culture. The product includes macarons using green tea and “hojicha” roasted green tea, a tea set made with Arita porcelain and a voucher for a luxury “ryokan” Japanese-style inn in the Ureshino Onsen hot spring resort in Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan.

According to a survey conducted by Matsuya Ginza, the proportion of respondents who said that they will not buy “giri choco,” or chocolates for people other than romantic partners, stood at around 45 pct, up from about 20 percent a year before. The surge is believed to reflect the increased adoption of remote working amid the coronavirus crisis.

Meanwhile, the same survey showed that 55 percent of respondents plan to buy chocolates for themselves, with the average budget rising for the second straight year, to 4,313 yen.

JIJI Press