A shortage of domestic fruit combined with the weak yen driving up the cost of imports in Japan is seeing fruit consumption in the country continue to fall.
While average household expenditure on fresh fruit in October was close to the 13-year average at ¥3,025, fruit consumption fell to 7.37kg per household, which was the second lowest in the past 13 years, according to statistics from Japan’s Ministry of Finance.
“The purchasing price of ¥410 perkg was the highest in 13 years for the month of October. This would be attributed primarily to the weak yen, which makes imports more expensive, and is the reason why the purchasing cost is up, while consumption was down,” Jack Moriya, president of leading wholesaler-importer Tokyo Seika explained.
“It is estimated that consumption for 2015 will be close to 80kg per Japanese household, which would make it the lowest in 13 years compared to the highest level of 96.7kg in 2003.”
A shortage of local fruit led to higher market prices for fruit and along with a weak yen which drove up the price of imported fruit, consumption of fruit overall has declined, Moriya said, adding that fruit consumption has been declining in Japan regardless of price.
“It should be noted that domestic fruit production in Japan has been about 2.8m tonnes while imported fruit was 1.6m tonnes. Although quantity wise, domestic production was 63 per cent of the total, from the standpoint of value, it should be closer to 80 per cent because the value of bananas is so low.
Household expenditure on bananas in October was the second highest in the past 13 years at ¥416, with the price of bananas reaching its second highest level. Consumption, however, was down slightly at 1.59 kg per household compared to the 13-year average of 1.63kg per household.
“It is estimated that expenditures for bananas during the 2015 would be ¥4,800, which would bethe second highest, with consumption estimated at 18.4kg for the year, which would indicate a modest recovery,” Moriya explained.
A tight supply of kiwifruit during October meant that demand outstripped supply, and while kiwifruit expenditure per household remained high, Moriya said it could have been higher.
“Kiwifruit household consumption was 124gm, which was flat for the month of October; however, with more supply, it should have been higher if the demand was there,” Moriya said.
The forecast expenditure on kiwifruit for 2015 is expected to reach ¥1,500 per household, making it the highest in ten years.
