FEATURE: Belgian breath mint maker Frisk wins Japanese award

News Home Top Stories World Asia Pacific Business Technology Entertainment Sports Photos

Yahoo! Asia News

Search Yahoo! News

advertisement

Monday November 28, 8:47 AM

FEATURE: Belgian breath mint maker Frisk wins Japanese award
(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ONE PHOTO ATTACHED TO THIS STORY IS AVAILABLE VIA E-MAIL. THE PHOTO ADVISORY IS TO FOLLOW)
Whenever you pop into convenience stores or supermarkets in Japan, you can easily find white plastic boxes of "Frisk" -- the breath mint that "sharpens you up" -- by the cashier.
But not many consumers know that these small white mints that pack a powerful punch are made in Belgium and hold a dominant -- almost a 50 percent -- share in the 24 billion yen breath mint market in Japan.
The sugar-free mints, stylishly packaged in a sliding white box, come in flavors such as peppermint, spearmint and lime mint.
Frisk International NV sells 75 million boxes of the breath mint in Japan a year -- or 2.4 containers per second -- reflecting the company's massive growth in Japan since it began selling products here in 1993 in partnership with Kanebo Foods Ltd., a foods division of Kanebo Ltd.
Frisk International, based in the Belgian city of Leuven, has been awarded the second "Nippon Export Award," a prize honoring the most successful company conducting business between Japan and Belgium and Luxembourg.

The Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Japan created the prize last year to recognize efforts by Belgium, Luxembourg and Japanese companies to boost mutual trade and investment.
About 1,500 companies are involved in trade and investment between Japan and the two European countries.
Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who has been involved in the project since its inception, congratulated Frisk International's president, Bernard Degroux, during an awards ceremony Friday at the Belgian Embassy in Tokyo.
"You have the No. 1 share in Japan, meaning that your products have fit into the Japanese lifestyle," Nakagawa said. "I would like you to make a greater contribution in upgrading relations between Japan and Belgium and Luxembourg."
Japan is the biggest market for Frisk International. Its sales in Japan total 15 billion yen a year, more than half of the 28 billion yen (200 million euro) of the company's global retail sales.
Kanebo Foods imports and distributes Frisk products -- including gum -- in Japan, helping Frisk become one of the best-selling candy products in the country.
Frisk's popularity also helps improve the image of the Kanebo group, which has been undergoing restructuring under the state-backed Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan.
Frisk International beat three other contenders for the prize --UCB Japan Co., a Japanese arm of Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB, the Cream of the Crop and Company, a Tokyo company known for selling Belgium's Pierre Marcolini chocolate, and Villeroy & Boch Tableware Japan K.K., a Japanese unit of Villeroy & Boch SARL of Luxembourg.
Luxembourg Ambassador to Japan Michele Pranchere-Tomassini, who sits on the six-member screening committee, said Frisk International "hit the needs of Japanese consumers, especially working people who quickly want a better breath or fresh feeling on such occasions as meeting clients, doing overtime and driving cars for long hours."
"They made their products handy so each would fit in any pocket. Japanese consumers like such a detail," she told Kyodo News. "I would also like to point out the synergy effects between Frisk and Kanebo in cultivating the Japanese market."
Other committee members include Tomiichi Akiyama, honorary adviser of Sumitomo Corp., and Duco Delgorge, representative and general manager of Puratos Japan Co., who is the first Nippon Export Award winner.
Pranchere-Tomassini said Frisk International has developed a micro-capsule "liquid" product and started test sales in Hokkaido, a marketing strategy the company has been using before launching new products nationwide -- and eventually worldwide.
"Japan is a center of their activity and also a laboratory for their future," she said. "It really shows a strong link between Frisk and Japan."
Frisk International's Degroux said an alliance with Kanebo Foods -- which stemmed from personal contacts between executives of the two companies -- as well as market research and trials in Hokkaido are behind his company's success in Japan.
"Without tying up with a Japanese partner, it was difficult for us to develop products that meet all the quality requirements of the market, and that fulfils the needs of local people," Degroux said.
"The creation of a brand image and boosting the image with effective advertisements could not have been done without joint efforts with a good Japanese partner," he said. "In this sense, the role of Kanebo Foods was a decisive factor for the success of Frisk in Japan."