Japanese confectioners sweeten virus-hit sales in novel ways

Premium makers ditch exclusivity as tourist slump batters bottom lines

20200623 souvenir sweets 1

The once-exclusive Tokyo Banana sponge cakes are now available outside the capital for the first time.

KEN FURUSAWA and NARUSHI NAKAI, Nikkei staff writers

TOKYO -- For ages, makers of premium souvenir sweets in Japan have adhered to one rule: Never stray from local markets.

Sound advice in normal times when confectioners could tout their exclusivity and flog their product as "uniquely local" souvenirs. But then came the novel coronavirus.

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