Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501130079
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: TOKYO LENGTH: Medium
Sadako Watanabe doesn't see herself as the vanguard of any consumer revolution. She'd just like to give her grandchildren an apple treat without breaking the household budget.
``If they taste good, I'll keep buying them,'' she said matter-of-factly as she selected an American apple at a Tokyo supermarket Thursday. Price: 78 yen each - 22 yen cheaper than the least-expensive Japanese ones.
With this week's debut of American apples on Japanese store shelves, U.S. growers hope shoppers like Watanabe will help them carve out a share of the lucrative Japanese market.
Virginia apples are not likely to be included in the test of the Japanese market. Jim Ikenberry of Ikenberry Orchards at Daleville said he knows of no Virginia or East Coast growers exporting apples to Japan.
He said he doubts that East Coast growers would become involved in the Japanese trade any time soon because of the distance involved. Growers in the Roanoke region export apples to South America and Europe, he said.
After decades of trade battles, American farmers and trade officials are touting the arrival of the U.S. apples in Japan as a major triumph.
President Clinton even presented a beribboned basket of Washington state apples to visiting Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama as a symbol of trade progress following their summit on Wednesday.
But picky Japanese consumers still could upset the apple cart.
The fad-conscious Japanese are famous for embracing novelty products, then dropping them just as quickly.
In the first few days of sales, Japanese consumers have flocked to buy the American fruit. But they may have been drawn by giveaways and big discounts by growers and distributors.
The Daiei supermarket chain initially sold the American apples for 50 yen, marking the price up to 78 yen on Wednesday. American growers have given away thousands of apples at promotions, including an apple-munching contest Thursday in downtown Tokyo.
Some sellers said first-time customers were buying the apples out of curiosity, and might not come back for more.
``I'm not sure American apples can compete with Japanese ones, even though they're cheaper,'' said Toshiko Nemoto, who runs a fruit shop with her husband.
She said the American apples were sourer and less juicy than Japanese ones, and that some customers were worried about the wax on the U.S. fruit - ``so red and shiny, just like the poisoned apple in the Snow White story!''
Foreign products often provoke a backlash in Japan, an insular country with a taste for the homegrown.
Japanese farmers - who fear cheap imports will put them out of business - have staged angry protests over the apple imports, just as they did when Japan eased its ban on rice imports last year.
One agricultural research group said it believes banned chemicals are being used on American apples, despite government and grower assurances to the contrary.
``Consumers are thinking of more than taste and price,'' the national newspaper Yomiuri declared. ``The safety of the imports is also on their minds.''
The American apple campaign highlights another obstacle facing foreign sellers: getting the Japanese to adopt a new way of thinking.
In Japan, fresh fruit still has the image of a luxury item, with less of a role in the daily diet than in the United States or Europe.
Japan's state-of-the-art homegrown apples - coddled and cosseted, protected with wrapping while still on the tree, and priced at up to $6 apiece - generally are purchased as gifts, not for everyday consumption.
``To me, the price doesn't matter,'' said 62-year-old housewife Toyo Kimura. ``I don't have to buy cheap stuff.''
However well the American apples wind up selling, both sides acknowledge that efforts to trim Japan's trade surplus, running at a record annual rate of nearly $65 billion, will take time to bear fruit.
But distributors say the American apples could be an important boost for foreign products in general. Hiroyuki Osaki, manager of a Daiei supermarket franchise in Tokyo, said his store's shipment of the U.S. apples has sold out every day so far.
``We want to keep on expanding the market for apples,'' he said, ``and introduce more and more products to Japanese consumers.''
Staff writer Greg Edwards contributed to this story.
by CNB