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Like Curry Like! |
TOKYO, JAPAN - While trade negotiations to improve U.S. rice access to Japan drag on, the USA Rice Federation continues to pave the way for the home-grown grain.
USA Rice's Japanese Facebook page, translated as "Curry LIKE!" has just passed a fan milestone. The page now has more than 14,000 fans and is the second largest curry-based Facebook site in Japan.
"Curries are very popular here, providing U.S.-grown rice with a natural entr�e into the market," said Bill Farmer, USA Rice's director of Asia programs. "We update the Facebook page with at least ten recipes and five news items each month to ensure fresh content, giving consumers a reason to visit often."
Farmer says they are also at the tail end of a four-week promotion offering Facebook fans a free sample of U.S. medium grain and a U.S. rice curry recipe book. He added that the increased Facebook fan base has resulted in increased traffic to the USA Rice Japan website that contains valuable nutritional information, additional recipes, and more.
Speaking of U.S. medium grain, a new retail bag product has recently been launched here
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Eat your vegetables...er, rice! |
by Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd., an international Japanese food company.
Nishimoto is taking a unique approach to marketing the product. Some rice is packaged and sold in the traditional rice section, but they are also packaging some differently and displaying the product in fresh vegetable sections with a message "rice to enjoy like a vegetable".
This twist on rice marketing follows several successful USA Rice promotional activities in Japan designed to introduce Japanese consumers to new and creative uses for U.S.-grown rice, such as cold rice salads. (see USA Rice Daily stories April 9, April 21, and August 14, 2014.)
"I think the availability of the one pound retail bags will help stimulate demand for U.S. medium grain rice here," Farmer said. "We'll keep publicizing new recipes and uses and help this market grow however we can."
Contact: Michael Klein (703) 236-1458