For the first time, Rijk Zwaan has presented its Salanova lettuce concept at the Foodex event in Tokyo, Japan, which took place on 6-9 March 2012.
The Salanova stand was part of the vegetable and fruit corner at Foodex, and attracted attention from foodservice companies, retailers and the hotel industry, according to Rijk Zwaan.
The group manned the stand with two local partners, Takada Seeds and Sumika Agritech, with more than 500 cups containing different salad varieties distributed to visitors throughout the course of the event.
Rijk Zwaan noted that Salanova is deemed perfect for the Japanese market, given the market's demand for strong aesthetics, presentation, colour combinations and flavour.
'We had the perfect opportunity to make contact with several big retailers and many foodservice suppliers of the hospitality industry,' said Jan Doldersum, chain manager for Asia at Rijk Zwaan. 'The sales of Salanova in Japan have been increased significantly in the past six months and at the end of the year we expect Japan will be the main market in Asia for Salanova, before Malaysia, China and Thailand.'
