Japanese QFF Consumption Rebounds But Market Value Remains Depressed

摘要

Domestic production inches up, and vegetable imports recover strongly from 2003 slump. But overall Yen value of domestic and imported products alike was off slightly last year.Frozen food consumption rebounded in Japan last year, thanks largely to a renewed influx of imported vegetables. But the value of the market actually fell slightly, largely because those imported vegetables were so much cheaper. Overall consumption as reported by the Japan Frozen Food Association (JFFA) was 2,287,973 tons, 5.2% ahead of 2003. But overall value, at ￥772.641 billion, didn't quite match ￥772.868 billion for the year before. Still, domestic prices were softer than those for imports: homeproduction was up two percent to 1,526,625 tons, but value off 0.9% to ￥673.032 billion. But there appears to be a substantial hidden market in what the JFFA calls "pre-cooked frozen foods" imports. These are usually cited as "small" in its annual reports, but a survey of member firms in 2003 reported a total of 222,825 tons, up 15.3% from 2002, valued at ￥92.38 billion, up 9.1%. As 2003 was a down year for other imports, there may well have been a further increase last year. Even if there wasn't, the total market should be at least 2.51 million tons and ￥865 billion.