The first Catalan Week in Japan ends successfully at the ten participating restaurants

Catalan cuisine has shone in Japan with two activities organised by Prodeca to position Catalan products commercially in the Japanese market, as part of the #CatalanFood campaign to position the agri-food sector internationally in several strategic markets.

10 Tokyo restaurants hold Catalan Week 

This week saw the end of the first Catalan Week, a food initiative bringing Catalan cooking to Japan collectively, with around ten Tokyo restaurants taking part. For 10 days, Japanese customers tasted menus created specially for the occasion and the restaurants added dishes such as pa amb tomàquet with cured meats, rice dishes, fish suquet, fricandó, trinxat and escalivada, each conceived to suit the restaurant and chef and designed to showcase Catalan produce for Japanese tastes. 

For the dishes, the restaurants used products from companies already present in the Japanese market and the menus were paired with a selection of Catalan wines from various designations.

Most of the restaurants taking part are run by Catalans or by Japanese with close ties to Catalonia. Restaurants with non-Catalan chefs had advice and recipes from Josep Barahona, a Lleida chef who has lived in Japan for more than 30 years and has extensive experience in promoting Catalan cuisine in the Japanese market.
 
The restaurants taking part in Catalan Week in Japan were:

• CASA MALLA
• EL ROSSELLO
• ESTACION
• FONDA SANT JORDI
• GRACIA-TOKYO
• MASIA
• RESTAURANT TINC GANA
• SONRISA
• TASCA TOKYO
• TAULA

Rosselló	Gracia	Masia
Sant Jordi	Tasca Tokyo	Tinc Gana

Catalan Week in Japan closed with more than 300 menus served with Catalan produce and cuisine as the stars and a very positive response from Japanese diners: of the 200 surveys carried out, 94% said they were "very satisfied" with the initiative. Many respondents expressed interest in learning more about Catalan culture and cuisine.

Success for the Catalan Food Street Show in Tokyo

Catalan Week forms part of the commercial outreach activities for Catalan agri-food companies and products that Prodeca has organised in Japan in recent weeks. On 22 and 23 November, the first Catalan Food Street Show was held successfully:, a food market in central Tokyo (in Shibuya, one of the most central and busiest districts of the Japanese capital). 

More than 3,000 Japanese visitors bought Catalan produce at the various sales points set up, with samples and Catalan tapas. Over the event's two days all the displayed product sold out — more than 150 Catalan lines were put on sale, a success for the more than 30 Catalan companies taking part in Prodeca's initiative. 

The showcase also had a tasting area with Catalan tapas and wine run by chef Josep Barahona. Japanese visitors tasted more than 20 Catalan wines and cavas and tapas such as fideus a la cassola, escudella with galets and botifarra, accompanied by pa amb tomàquet, as well as sweets and other products.

Japan, a key market for Catalan agri-food

Japan is largely an importing market (60% of the products it consumes are imported) and very exposed to international consumption trends, which is an opportunity for Catalan companies. "Catalan companies must be very aware of how demanding Japanese consumers are. Our challenge as a sector is to convey the values, history and authenticity of Catalan products and, as an administration, to help companies position themselves in a value segment. With initiatives like #CatalanFood we direct and focus our efforts on catching the attention of and building rapport with consumers in these strategic markets", said Ramon Sentmartí, director of Prodeca. 

Japan is one of the main destination markets for Catalan products and one of the fastest growing in recent years. It is currently the 7th market for the agri-food sector (2nd outside the European Union), and in 2022 Catalan food and drink companies exported €537 million and more than 177,000 tonnes there, 3.62% and 2.44% respectively of everything exported worldwide in value and volume. 

Catalonia's main export to Japan is meat, specifically pork, which accounts for 73.98% of the total exported, followed by wine, fine food products (led by bakery and pastry products, vegetable juices, drinks and smoothies, sweets, cocoa and confectionery, and coffee) and vegetable oils, mainly olive oil.

Over the last 10 years, Catalonia has increased the value and volume of food and drink exported to Japan by more than 230% and 257% respectively, showing the market's growing importance for Catalan companies. In 2012 Japan was the 9th market for Catalan products, and over these 10 years only China, among the 10 main importing markets, has seen stronger growth in sales of Catalan products. 

At present (2022 figures) 610 agri-food companies export to Japan, 222 of them regularly (having exported for four consecutive years without interruption), a figure up 40% over the last decade.

#CatalanFood: positioning Catalan produce in strategic markets

Both initiatives form part of the #CatalanFood commercial outreach campaign run by Prodeca, an international promotion project in several markets including Japan. Over the coming months, Prodeca will run food promotion and commercial outreach activities for agri-food companies in markets such as the United States, China, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Coordinated with six international marketing agencies and with the collaboration of some Catalan government delegations abroad, the campaign aims to increase the perceived value of Catalan food by giving visibility to and energising the Catalan companies and products present in those markets. Events have already been held in recent weeks in Berlin (Germany), Mexico City and New York (United States), with activities soon planned in Washington (United States), Kuwait, Lima (Peru), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). 

Most activities are aimed at opinion leaders and trade audiences (importers, distributors and restaurateurs) in order to raise the profile and positioning of Catalan products in those markets. These events include tastings and masterclasses led by highly regarded sommeliers and chefs, with Catalan companies taking part. Others are point-of-sale promotions, displaying Catalan produce in retail outlets (mainly supermarkets) with a tasting area, to encourage purchases and introduce these products to consumers in those markets.