information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
25 Octobre 2013
October 25, 2013
Food producer Meiji Co. said Oct. 24 that it will withdraw from the Chinese baby formula market after its current stock runs out due to plummeting sales since the onset of the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
The company blamed intensifying competition. The backlash over the Senkaku Islands issue also contributed to sales in China falling to about one-third of its peak performance.
Meiji began baby formula sales in China in 1993. It became widely recognized as one of the safe foreign brands after hazardous materials were found in domestic products.
However, exports from Japan were prohibited after foot-and-mouth disease spread among cattle in Miyazaki Prefecture in 2010.
The accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, set off by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, only prolonged the ban.
In 2011, Meiji switched to exports from Australia, which pushed up transportation costs. However, Chinese, fearful of radioactive contamination, stayed away from Meiji products.
Local newspapers said worsening Japan-China relations also affected Meiji’s sales amid stiff competition from rivals in Europe and New Zealand.
Japanese food, known for its reliability, was considered one of the nation’s promising exports to China. However, China has banned food from many eastern Japanese prefectures since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Meiji said it intends to resume baby formula sales if exports from Japan are permitted. However, the Japanese and Chinese governments have not made progress in lifting the ban.
(This article was written by Masanobu Furuya in Tokyo and Tokuhiko Saito in Guangzhou.)
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