Start of Sale of J Farm High Sugar Content Tomatoes in Hong Kong - Following Sales in Singapore, Shipments to High-End Supermarket in Hong Kong -

31 March 2017
JFE Engineering Corporation
J Farm Corporation

J Farm Corporation (President: Hiroshi Horiuchi, Head Office: Sapporo city, Hokkaido), a group company of JFE Engineering Corporation (President and CEO: Hajime Oshita, Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), began sales of high sugar content tomatoes produced at its Smart-Agriculture Plant in Tomakomai City, Hokkaido, Japan at the premium quality supermarket YATA in Hong Kong.

At present, Hong Kong's self-sufficiency in vegetables is less than 10%, and the city depends on imports from China and the United States for most of the vegetables distributed there. Hong Kong also imports a large amount of vegetables from Japan, and there is an increasing need for Japanese-produced vegetables, particularly among the affluent class in the district, for reasons of "good taste" and "safety and security."

J Farm Corporation has sold high sugar content tomatoes at the Meijiya supermarket in Singapore since April 2015,^* and has received excellent reviews from customers. Following this, J Farm conducted promotional sales of its high sugar tomatoes at YATA's Kantou store in Hong Kong (March 17-20). Many customers who tried the tomatoes said "they're delicious, and I want to continue buying them." Based on this favorable response, the company began regular sales at the same store from March 22.

JFE Engineering and J Farm sell the high sugar tomatoes which they produce under the house brand name "Red Jewel Sapporo." J Farm will continue to produce such high value-added products stably throughout the year as house-brand products for sale in Japan and other countries, and will also promote sales of smart-agriculture plants utilizing advanced technologies, thereby contributing to building a strong agricultural industry in Japan.

(Photos) Customers sampling J Farm's high sugar tomatoes on sale at the YATA Kantou supermarket in Hong Kong.

• * See the JFE Engineering news release dated April 22, 2015:
  http://www.jfe-eng.co.jp/en/news/2015/20150422.html