THURSDAY, 4 MARCH 2021, KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) will be leading the participation of Malaysian companies in one of the world’s largest annual food, beverages and hospitality exhibition, The 46th International Food and Beverages Exhibition or FOODEX Japan 2021. Participation in FOODEX Japan 2021 reaffirms MATRADE’s interest to grow F&B exports to one of Malaysia’s long established key trading partners in the region while serves as an initiative to assist Malaysian companies to recover quickly their business activities through exports.

The event to be held from 9 to 12 March 2021 in Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan will continue to witness MATRADE’s coordination of export promotion activities by government bodies. The Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) and the Ministry of International Trade & Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development (MINTRED), Sarawak are among Malaysian exhibitors in the event.

The booming e-Commerce market which has been trending with more than double digit growth has attracted participation of Malaysia’s first time exhibitor in the event, SD Impex Sdn (SISB) Bhd. SISB has successfully entered the Japanese market since end of last year and currently active in promoting their product ranges both online and offline. By participating in Foodex 2021, SISB is hopeful to strengthen their market presence and explore new market opportunities including meeting potential buyers and importers to distribute their products under the Asian Taste and MyKitchen brands. Currently, SISB is working closely with MATRADE to link them with reputable local players as well as conduct product promotions via food tasting and demonstration events in Tokyo and Nagoya. The company has also received positive number of enquiries to supply and distribute products via e-commerce and online sales platforms.          

Golden Fresh Sdn Bhd (GFSB), which carries the Pacific West and Subi Brands will also be participating this year under Malaysia’s pavilion. To date, GFSB has established itself in the market by supplying products to major chain stores, supermarkets, fast-food restaurants and cafés in Japan. Since Japan is one of the world’s largest consumers of fish and seafood and as such, GFSB believes that participation in the event will strengthen and further expand exports of their premium and value-added seafood products to the market especially. With their experience supplying to major international sports events, GFSB is also hopeful to supply their halal certified products for the Tokyo Summer Olympic.

Overall, this year’s event will feature a wide variety of Malaysian F&B products such as premium seafood, frozen food, agricultural products, ready-to-eat products, readymade paste, bakery products and exotic Asian fruits including many other products produced by entrepreneurs under the umbrella of FAMA and MINTRED.

With a total market value for food and beverages (F&B) including retail sales of about USD 500 billion, the F&B industry in Japan is largely import dependent and Malaysian companies can leverage on the opportunities to explore new areas for export. Among the opportunities, include collaborations and promotions for the planned Tokyo Summer Olympics, strong interests to grow Halal offerings, as well as leveraging on the growing trend in ready-to-eat packaged food, sweets & confectionery and healthy & elderly related products. Malaysia’s exports of processed food to Japan was valued at RM932 million last year.

MATRADE’s Trade Commissioner in Tokyo, Mr Niqman Rafaee Mohd Sahar emphasised that Malaysia’s participation in FOODEX Japan aims at linking high-quality products and services offered by Malaysian companies with major Japanese buyers and retail players, taking into consideration the well stature of FOODEX among local industry players. “In the perspective of venturing and growing exports to Japan, Malaysian companies are encouraged to take advantage of the existing tariff elimination and reduction on export of key products into Japan derived from the trade agreements signed by both countries under the Malaysia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (MJEPA) and ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP)” Niqman said.

Malaysian exporters who are interested to export to in Japan may contact MATRADE Tokyo at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  to receive more information about the market, a list of useful contacts, and to determine further assistance.