Okinawa aims to make coffee new signature product

March 30, 2018

NAGO, OKINAWA Pref.- Farmers in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa are trying to popularize homegrown coffee while the country mostly depends on imports for its coffee consumption.

Local farmers established a producers association in 2014, hoping to make coffee beans a new signature agricultural product of the island prefecture.

The association is set to market Okinawa coffee beans in Tokyo while hoping to leverage them to attract tourists.

Coffee beans are mainly grown in areas near the equator. Japan imports them from over 40 countries.

In Okinawa, coffee production, which requires a particular natural environment, such as adequate sunlight and temperatures, started about 100 years ago. But growing coffee beans stably is difficult in Okinawa, which is prone to typhoons.

Introducing a greenhouse system, Naomasa Miyazato, 67, head of the association, harvested some 80 kilograms of coffee beans in 2017.

A cup of homegrown coffee is served at 700 yen at the association's office in the city of Okinawa. Its mild and sweet taste has won positive reviews.

"We aim to promote a branding strategy for Okinawa coffee in a bid to revive agriculture in the prefecture and make coffee production a key local industry," Miyazato said.

From April, coffee beans bought from Miyazato will be sold at 1,620 yen per 50 grams at major department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd.'s flagship Isetan outlet in Tokyo's Shinjuku district.

An official of a distribution agency said, "We hope to spread information about Okinawa coffee as part of our support."

Due to intense price competition with imports, it is no easy job to make coffee production in Okinawa Prefecture profitable.

A coffee farm in the Okinawa village of Higashi has started a program to provide tourists with an opportunity to experience picking coffee beans. Jiji Press