USA & Japan: Japan purchased 500MT of U.S. barley

Hakubaku, Japan’s largest barley processor and maker of barley products, is purchasing 500 metric tons (22,964 bushels) of U.S. food barley from the 2005 crop and has contracted for an additional 2,000 tons (91,859 bushels) in 2007, Idaho Barley Commission announced May 3.

In November, the U.S. Grains Council’s Feed and Food Barley Market Assessment Team met with Hakubaku staff members to discuss the company’s quality requirements and provide samples of U.S. barley. After testing additional samples provided by the Idaho Barley Commission, Hakubaku decided to replace the domestic and Canadian barley they had been using with U.S. barley. The Council’s office in Tokyo acted as a liaison between the company and U.S. suppliers. Representatives from Hakubaku and a trading company then traveled to the United States to meet with potential suppliers.

“They were impressed with the enthusiasm and motivation of U.S. barley farmers, as well as the progressive U.S. barley cleaning system,” said Michiko Wakamiya, USGC/Tokyo’s administrative manager. “According to the purchasing director, this was the first time he could contact foreign farmers directly. He was surprised to see how much effort American farmers were ready to make in order to meet Hakubaku’s high quality standards.”

Hakubaku, which has a 60 percent share of Japan’s food market, also informed the Council of its plans to increase U.S. barley imports in the coming years. The Council estimates Japan has the potential to import 20,000 tons (918,592 bushels) of non-feed U.S. barley a year by 2008.

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