TV Tokyo: Organic food business

Food retailer Oisix will be featured on TV Tokyo tonight at 22:00PM. Oisix is a food mail order company with a strong focus on creating links between farmers and consumers. They have seen a large surge in sales from its home delivery services for organic vegetables and additive-free processed foods recently, according to Jiji Press:

The food offered by Oisix comes packaged with selections made by customers via the Internet and is about 30 pct to 50 pct more expensive than the products sold at conventional supermarkets. Kuniaki Mishima, spokesman for Oisix, says that over the past few years, the startup company has benefited from a series of problems in the food industry, such as bird flu, mad cow disease, agrichemical residue and concerns about food produced in China. But Mishima says that the majority of Japanese households are willing to tolerate food price premiums of only up to 15 pct, according to surveys conducted by Oisix. In order to cut prices, the company, the No. 3 player in organic food delivery services in Japan, is aiming to lift its annual sales to 10 billion yen from the fiscal 2006 level of 3.6 billion yen in order to procure greater amounts and improve cost structures.

"We are not targeting wealthy consumers and we do not believe offering safe food is a niche business," Mishima says.

The Oisix shopping website may be a little difficult to navigate if you don't read Japanese, but do have a look. Trivia: The first part of the name "Oisix" sounds like the word oishii (delishious).

TV Tokyo Gaia no Yuake (Dawn of Gaia) website has more details about tonight's program (Japanese only)