New York- A trade fair designed to expand exports of food products from Japanese companies led by female entrepreneurs is taking place in New York.

High-priced items targeting affluent consumers from about 20 Japanese firms are on display at the event, including sake made in Fukushima Prefecture and chocolate with strawberries from Miyagi Prefecture.

Japan’s exports of agricultural and food products hit a record high of 1,414 billion yen last year. In the United States, Japan’s third largest export market after China and Hong Kong, sake is particularly popular, driven by a boom in Japanese cuisine.

A 300-mililiter bottle of Fukushima sake made by Tokyo-based Ichido that is on display at the show has a taste similar to that of sparkling wine. It is priced at 60 dollars.

“We aim to increase sales to restaurants as (the product) goes well with meals,” Ichido chief Kaori Shimazaki said.

The event also features sustainability.

Loss Zero Co., based in the western Japan city of Osaka, is showing off chocolate products featuring irregular-shaped freeze-dried strawberries harvested in Kesennuma, Miyagi, which was heavily damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It plans to sell a packet of such chocolate products for 30 dollars.

New York is one of the best cities for female entrepreneurs to work actively in terms of financing and market size, according to Dell Technologies.

Shizuka Umehara, a consultant who designed the trade show, said that New York has a “potential to accept Japanese food and nurture female entrepreneurs.”

Jiji Press