With the help of a $784,902 grant from USDA’s Market Access Program to promote US organic products abroad next year, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) is ready to launch a new strategy to promote organic products and educational programs in Japan and around the world.
Taka Yamaguchi, executive officer of Organic Japan, says part of his ambitious plan is to have athletes in the 2020 Summer Olympics eat organic. He described this plan to more than 100 of Japan’s top grocery retailers, food importers and distributors at a recent Organic Trade Association-sponsored seminar in Japan. The seminar was one of two OTA programs that brought industry and government leaders together in Tokyo and Osaka to learn about US organic products and updates on a bilateral trade deal that will help bring organic products to Japan.