Queensland carrots put crunch into Japanese diets

Fresh Queensland carrots were on the shopping list today when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk dropped into a Tokyo supermarket.

In what was her last official stop of her second trade mission to Japan, Ms Palaszczuk stopped at the Daimaru Peacock supermarket in Mita Isarago en route to her flight home from Tokyo’s Narita International Airport.

On display were Kalfresh carrots grown by the company in the Fassifern and Lockyer valleys and shipped to the city to educate consumers on the quality of food grown in the Sunshine State.

“I am always proud to see Queensland produce take pride of place in overseas supermarkets,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“The Daimaru Peacock group focuses on premium products and Queensland produce is a perfect fit as it is of such high quality,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“These carrots also highlight the reputation that our farmers have as suppliers of quality produce that is safe and nutritious to eat.”

The promotion was organised by one of Japan’s largest fruit and vegetable importers, Union, and Trade & Investment Queensland (TIQ) and is expected to lead to greater demand for Queensland carrots which are generally sweeter than locally grown carrots.

Union’s initial interest in Queensland carrots was triggered at a lunch hosted by TIQ at Iron Chef Sakai’s restaurant in June 2016. The lunch was held to highlight the outstanding produce of six Queensland growers to key importers and distributors.

A trade display of fresh Queensland produce was held the same month at AEON supermarket group’s largest shopping mall Koshigaya Laketown in Queensland’s sister state of Saitama.

Aeon has 380 stores and is the parent company of Daimaru Peacock which has 54 stores in the Tokyo region

“These types of promotions are critical in creating awareness and demand in a market that has enormous potential for Queensland.

Kalfresh was started by father and son team, Barry and Robert Hinrichsen, in 1992 and has grown to become one of Queensland’s leading vegetable production companies that grows, packs and markets fresh vegetables in Australia and abroad.

The company and its suppliers have about 1,500 hectares devoted to vegetables including carrots, green beans, onions and pumpkins.

Queensland produces between $22 million to $25million in carrots each year according to latest AgTrends figures from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Media contact: Kirby Anderson 0417 263 791