TOKYO -- Iris Ohyama is expanding rice exports as part of an effort to boost sales in its food business to 15 billion yen ($147 million) in 2016, a 50% jump from 2015.
The Japanese company began exporting rice last year, shipping 60 tons to Malaysia for sale in department stores and other outlets. It now plans to ship more than 100 tons of rice annually to Malaysia and will also begin test sales in Switzerland, Germany and Taiwan, shipping several hundred kilograms there to gauge consumer interest. Procurement of Japanese-grown rice is rising in these areas accompanying a boom in Japanese cuisine.
