China has one of the world's oldest culinary traditions, but the popularity of its food is slumping miserably in Japan's lucrative market after a scare over poisoned dumplings.
At Foodex Japan, one of Asia's largest food exhibitions, China's booths were comparatively quiet as wholesalers and restaurant owners looked elsewhere to supply food to consumers in Asia's largest economy.
"Compared with last year, we have seen a huge impact because of the incident," said a Chinese manager of Meikeduo Foods Co (美客多食品) at Foodex Japan, which opened on Tuesday in suburban Tokyo.
"After the incident, we introduced stricter safety controls of the products while advertising our efforts to the public," said the manager, who declined to be named.
About 2,400 companies from 59 regions and states are taking part in Foodex, formally known as the 33rd International Food and Beverage Exhibition.
More than 100 Chinese companies set up their booths -- but none were selling dumplings.
Earlier this year at least 10 Japanese people were hospitalized after eating Chinese-made dumplings laced with pesticide. China, whose soaring economy is built on exports, has denied the contamination took place at one of its factories, setting off a spat with Japan.
Japan imports 60 percent of its food, giving it the lowest self-sufficiency rate among the G7 rich nations. China is Japan's second largest provider of food after the US.
But the Japan Management Association, one of Foodex's hosting institutions, said the Chinese section had been scaled down to two-thirds of the space given last year.
Meikeduo, which produces processed chestnuts and canned fruits, was the only company from Hebei Province near Beijing where the dumplings were produced.
Tadashi Yoshida, deputy general manager of the Japan Management Association, denied the reduction in space had anything to do with the dumpling scare.
"We asked the Chinese representative to select participating companies more strictly this year," Yoshida said.
However, Japanese supermarkets and other companies have already reported economic fallout from the scare over Chinese food.
The health ministry said the government has ordered the recall of 68 food products from China imported by 18 Japanese firms.
Japan Tobacco Inc, which imported the frozen dumplings from the Tianyang Food (天洋食品) plant, announced last week it would boost its own production of frozen foods.
Daiei Inc, one of Japan's major supermarket chains, said its sales of frozen food were down 30 percent from a year earlier about a week after the news of the poisoned dumplings broke.
Sales of domestic onions, pork and beef had all shot up by more than 150 percent.
But the scare has not ended the Japanese taste for Chinese food.
The Taiwanese section at Foodex was more vibrant, with Chimei (
"We have received at least twice or three times more orders from Japanese retailers," said Jimmy Fujiwara, chief manager of Chimei's Japan division.
"Mass retailers had chosen Chinese manufacturers because of lower costs," he said. "But they are now looking to outsource outside of China regardless of how much it costs."
In a sign of how far the scare has reached, a top Japanese lawmaker this week tried a joke about Chinese food.
Yuriko Koike, the former defense and environment minister, said in a speech on Monday: "A suicidal Chinese man swallowed pesticide, but survived because it was mislabelled. Then he celebrated by eating dumplings and died from poisoning."
"What a black joke," she said.
The joke is certainly not funny for the Chinese firms at the food exhibition.
"If the impact lingers, it will benefit neither Japan or China," said Zhang Tianfei, president of Fuzhou Chungming Tea Enterprises Co (
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College