Japanese wholesalers expand operations in China

Trading houses from Japan are expanding their wholesale operations in China. They do so, as the numbers of supermarkets in China is rising and consumer demand increases. Asia Pulse reports this today. The Japanese wholesalers support local partners with their advanced food knowledge and distribution systems.

Sojitz Corp. for instance will this summer set up a joint venture with Beijing San Yuan Group and enter the wholesale business for frozen, chilled and ambient foods. The new joint venture will build a distribution centre and offer procurement and logistics services to some 2,000 stores. This will end the delivery problems of Beijing San Yuan and – according to a Sojitz official – cut costs by 20 per cent following combined shipments. Sojitz’ sales are targeted at 4 billion yen (US$32.6 million) in 2015.

Sumitomo Corp. and Kato Sangyo Co. will set up wholesale food operations in Guangzhou, reports Asia Pulse. By September, they will jointly take a 40 per cent stake in a major local food wholesaler. The Japanese firms will help improve the business efficiency of the wholesaler, which is ranked third in China, aiming to boost its annual sales to the highest in the industry in four years.