On Tuesday, October 30, 2018, Mr. Yasunori Tatsui, General Manager(GM)of Corporate Planning Department, and Mr. Yutaka Nishio, Division Manager(DM) of Domestic Product Division, presented a lecture and paticipated a panel discussion with other experts at the Nourin-Reserch Autumn Special Seminar held at Nihon Dental University's Kudan Hall (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo).

The seminar was hosted by Nourin-Research to discuss the theme of "Distribution of fruit and vegetables under the Revised Wholesale Market Law." Approximately 50 people participated in the seminar, including managers of agriculture, wholesaler, intermediate wholesaler, and distribution in various parts of Japan, as well as the mass media.

In his speech, Farmind introduced the comprehensive supply chain function of our fruit and vegetables distribution, which was built through two networks: a cold-chain infrastructure covering the whole country, and an information system that accurately and quickly connects the expectations of producers and demands from consumers. He also stated that the revision of the Wholesale Market Law is expected to further accelerate the diversification of wholesale markets and the liberalization of competition, and that the effective use of our functions could contribute to the improvement of added value and differentiation in the wholesale market.

In the latter half of the panel discussion, discussions were held with Mr. Yuki Takeda, GM of the Wholesale Market Division, Food Industry Bureau, MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries), and Mr. Takuo Ozawa, GM of the Production and Sales Division, ZENNOH (National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations) Nagano. With regard to the future direction of the Group's wholesale market business, Farmind expressed his opinion on the necessity of shifting from area sales to wide-area sales, the utilization of customer accounts nationwide, and the promotion of integrated logistics, which aims to improve loading efficiency by loading domestic fruits and vegetables on banana distribution networks already established nationwide, and to reduce logistics costs.

Based on our corporate philosophy of "Bringing producers and consumers together," we will continue to contribute to the development of fruit and vegetables distribution in Japan and overseas from various perspectives. We will continue to strengthen our fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables supply system in Japan and overseas, and improve quality through the cold chain, so that we can deliver fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables from producers to consumers.

Speech by Mr. Tatsui
Scene of a panel discussion From left to right, Mr. Ozawa, GM of the Department of ZENNOH Nagano, Mr. Nishio, DM of the Domestic Product Division of Farmind, Mr. Tatsui, GM of the Department of Corporate Planning of Farmind, and Mr. Takeda, GM of the Wholesale Market Division of MAFF