Olive oil: an overview of the Japanese market

The article presents an overview of olive oil consumption in Japan, Asia’s largest per capita consumer and at present 14th in the world. Since the early 1990s, total purchases have increased from 4943 t in the 1992/93 campaign to 61 903 t in 2014/15, a more than 12-fold increase over the space of 22 years. Olive oil, in particular extra virgin olive oil, is appreciated by Japanese people primarily for its beneficial effects on health, as well as for its agreeable taste and for its cultural and historical associations. Other key factors to be considered are economic and cultural. Japan is one of the world’s largest economies; disposable incomes are high and these are reflected in household consumption behavior. Culturally, the country is increasingly open to the outside world, discovering and adopting practices from elsewhere, notably the West. This openness, allied to the country’s relative affluence, is demonstrated in the consumption of olive oil, a pillar of the Mediterranean Diet.


Introduction
Japan has the highest per capita olive oil consumption in Asia.
A pleasurable taste, positive effects on the health and sophisticated cultural associations are just some of the characteristics related with the Mediterranean Diet, of which olive oil is an essential constituent. The Japanese people are well aware of them and this explains the consistent year-on-year growth in olive oil consumption since the 1980s.
Economic and cultural factors are important. Japan is one of the world's largest economies; disposable incomes are high Correspondence: daniela_rosa@hotmail.com and these are reflected in household consumption behavior. Culturally, the country is increasingly open to the outside world, discovering and adopting practices from elsewhere, notably the West.
Japan started to consume olive oil on a significant scale at the beginning of the 1980s; it was not until the 1990s however, probably encouraged by a promotional campaign launched in 1991 by the International Olive Oil Council, and by efforts of the producers and distributors, that the substantial annual increases began.
Instances of pioneering local cultivation of olive oil do exist, especially in the island of Shodoshima where the climate is very similar to that of the Mediterranean. Production  is however very small; for present purposes, it can be considered that all olive oil consumed in Japan is imported.

Olive oil consumption: historical evolution
In

Imports of olive oil in Japan: situation and evolution
Spain, Italy are the principal sources of Japan's olive oil, accounting between them for almost 95%. Table 1 and Figure 3 summarize the current situation in this regard.
Non-European Union sources account for 4% of the total. Figure 4 shows the development of imports from Spain, Italy, Turkey and Greece from 1992 until the 2014/2015 crop year. Italy and Spain have historically been the main import countries. Two years ago, the quantity of oil imported from Spain surpassed, for the first time, the quantity imported from Italy; this has continued. In 2014/2015, Japan imported 33 584 t (54% of the total) from Spain, vs. 25 066 t imported from Italy (40% of the total). This can be attributed to many factors, inter alia: Spain's higher production in comparison to that of Italy; Spain's attention and investment in producing a high quality product; and the promotional campaign undertaken by the Interprofesional del aceite de Oliva (https:// www.aceitesdeolivadeespana.com/-www.oliveoilsfromspain. org), an institution supported by the Spanish government to promote the development of the Spanish olive oil market. Further details on exports from Spain and Italy are given below.
SPAIN -At the end of the 2013/14 crop year, Spain had exported 1 231 817 t to the world market (including intra-EU deliveries). Exports to non-EU countries totaled 336 115 t, of which 36% went to the United States, rendering this country Spain's main export destination. Ranked by volume, Japan was next followed by China, Australia, Brazil, South Korea,  Russia, Mexico, United Emirates and India in that order (IOC, 2015). Deliveries of Spanish olive oil and olive pomace oil inside the EU amounted to 895 702 t, showing an increase of 78% compared to 2012/13. According to the volume ranking, Italy was the biggest EU buyer, taking 59% of all Spanish deliveries (531 430 t, up by 143% of the previous season), followed by Portugal (129 920 t), France (92 458 t), United Kingdom (54 749 t), Sweden (24 212 t), Netherlands (12 723 t), Germany (10 896 t), Belgium (9831 t) and Greece (9793 t).
ITALY -In 2013/14, Italy exported a total of 416 892 t, an increase of 6% on 2012/13. Almost 40% of these exports stayed inside the EU where the main destinations, listed by volume in descending order, were Germany (28% of the total), France, Greece, United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Netherlands and Denmark.
Italian exports to non-EU countries accounted for 61% of its total exports and recorded a season-on-season increase of 9%. The top destinations were the United States (47% of the total), followed by Canada, Japan, Australia, China, Switzerland, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea and Brazil.
Italy's imports of olive oil from outside the EU (29 126 t) were 64% lower than in the previous crop year and came mostly (74%) from Tunisia. Other suppliers were Turkey, Australia, Morocco and Chile.
In 2013/14, the breakdown of Italian sales by category shows that 71% was virgin olive oil, 18% olive oil and 9% olive pomace oil.

Consumption: the different categories of olive oil
The olive oil market comprises different categories of products. Table 3 defines the different categories of olive oils according to the European Council Regulation, which is adopted worldwide. Statistically the categories are simplified as Virgin Olive Oil, Olive Oil and Pomace Olive Oil.
Between 2008/2009 and 2014/2015 imports of olive oil to Japan increased by 86%, from 33 307 t to 61 877 t. For 2014/2015, the share accounted for by virgin olive oil (practically all of which extra virgin) was 71%, olive oil 25% and pomace olive oil 5%. Figure 5 shows the evolution by category from 2008/2009 to 2014/2015.

VIRGIN OLIVE OILS
Oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions that do not lead to alteration in the oil, which have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation or filtration, to the exclusion of oils obtained using solvents or using adjuvants having a chemical or biochemical action, or by re-esterification process and any mixture with oils of other kinds. Virgin olive oils are exclusively classified and described as follows: (a) Extra virgin olive oil Virgin olive oil having a maximum free acidity, in terms of oleic acid, of 0,8 g per 100 g, the other characteristics of which comply with those laid down for this category. (b) Virgin olive oil Virgin olive oil having a maximum free acidity, in terms of oleic acid, of 2 g per 100 g, the other characteristics of which comply with those laid down for this category. (c) Lampante olive oil Virgin olive oil having a free acidity, in terms of oleic acid, of more than 2 g per 100 g, and/or the other characteristics of which comply with those laid down for this category.

REFINED OLIVE OIL
Olive oil obtained by refining virgin olive oil, having a free acidity content expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0,3 g per 100 g, and the other characteristics of which comply with those laid down for this category.

OLIVE OIL -COMPOSED OF REFINED OLIVE OILS AND VIRGIN OLIVE OILS
Olive oil obtained by blending refined olive oil and virgin olive oil other than lampante oil, having a free acidity content expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 1 g per 100 g, and the other characteristics of which comply with those laid down for this category.

CRUDE OLIVE-POMACE OIL
Oil obtained from olive pomace by treatment with solvents or by physical means or oil corresponding to lampante olive oil, except for certain specified characteristics, excluding oil obtained by means of re-esterification and mixtures with other types of oils, and the other characteristics of which comply with those laid down for this category.

REFINED OLIVE-POMACE OIL
Oil obtained by refining crude olive-pomace oil, having a free acidity content expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 g per 100 g, and the other characteristics of which comply with those laid down for this category.
6. OLIVE-POMACE OIL Oil obtained by blending refined olive-pomace oil and virgin olive oil other than lampante oil, having a free acidity content expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 1 g per 100 g, and the other characteristics of which comply with those laid down for this category.'

Conclusions
Japan, a country with almost no olive production, is the world's 14th biggest consumer of olive oil. Accelerating import growth heralds a positive outlook for exporters. Moreover, since the Japanese market, supported by a growing awareness of health matters, displays an increasing appreciation of the quality differences between the various classes of olive oil, imports can be expected to continue their concentration towards higher quality products.
In view of the health-properties of extra-virgin olive oil, the product is likely to become a regular element in the diet of certain segments of the population: the particular nature of the Japanese consumer, driven by the quest for novelty, increasingly open to foreign cultures and new modes of living, is one that encourages its consumption.
Information campaigns such as those undertaker by local institutions, by distributors, by producers, by the International Olive Oil Council, by Spain's Interprofesional del Aceite de Oliva or by other producing countries have contributed signif- icantly to increasing public awareness of extra virgin olive oil in Japan.