OUR FUTURE IS
AGRICULTURE
OUR VALUES
OUR HOPE
Pursue human happiness through Agriculture and Food Industry.
OUR GOAL
“Agri–Food” to be a basis of sustainable human living.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY
Lead & Support the Japanese Agricultural Business to pursue more sustainable food culture.
OUR MISSION
Connect values of the “Agri-Food” Entrepreneurs to create new values in agriculture & food fields.
OUR WORK
Provide innovative opportunities for competitive Agriculture.
COMPANY PROFILE
| Company Name (Trading Name) |
Agri Connect Co., Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | The Soho, 2-7-4 Aomi koto-ku Tokyo 135-0064 Google Maps |
| President and Director |
Iori Kumamoto |
| Established | March, 2013 |
| Business |
|
ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
| Consulting Division |
Agribusiness Consulting Division |
New Business Design | Business entry support and agribusiness development: 80+ cases (10+ overseas) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region Selection and Business Entry Support | |||||||||
| Product and Market Development | |||||||||
| Overseas Agribusiness | |||||||||
| Agriculture Revitalization Support | |||||||||
| Farm Management Support Division |
Farm Management Support
|
Farmer development: 2,000+ farmers 20+ local governments |
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| Farmer Development | |||||||||
| Local Development Division |
Corporate Attraction and Site Selection | Corporate attraction, local strategy, crop branding, market development, new farmer facilitation 50+ cases |
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| Local Leader Development | |||||||||
| New Farmer Facilitation | |||||||||
| Local Development Strategy Making | |||||||||
| Relocation Facilitation | |||||||||
| Market Development for Farmers | |||||||||
| Media Division | AgriFood | For new farmers: 3M users/month Local product promotion: 200K users/month |
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| AGRI PICK | |||||||||
| Tabegoto | |||||||||
OUR GLOBAL INITIATIVE
Summary
We currently have projects in Australia, South East Asia, East Asia, and North and Central America.
- Assisting the development of an Agricommunity in Western Australia.
- Exporting and installing Japanese strawberry farming technology in Thailand.
- Running of Business Expo in Singapore for local buyers and Japanese farmers.
- Coordinating business meetings between local and international farmers and large scale companies.
- Conducting surveys of demand in farming technology for U.S and Mexican companies.
- Proposing business opportunities for local and international farmers and businesses.
- Researching high level green house technology in South Korea and the Netherlands.
What we can do
- If you hope to develop farms and farming facilities on a large scale and/or with high level technology we can introduce and coordinate farmers who have the relevant knowledge, skills and know-how.
- If you are interested in introducing original Japanese varieties of fruits and vegetables in your country we can introduce you to Japanese farmers who have extensive knowledge of local varieties.
- We support and conduct research and survey on new business opportunities in the farming sector in Japan, Asia and the US.
- If you are interested in exporting goods to Japan we can introduce you to major supermarkets, general merchandise stores and restaurant chains.
- If you are interested in visiting Japan to observe and explore Japanese farm and farming facilities, meet farmers and see the farming technology in action, we can organize this for you.
Why we can do these things
We have built a strong network of farmers, companies and government bodies.
Companies
- Many companies know that Agri Connect has this extensive network of farmers and agricultural businesses so they come to us to be introduced to this network.
- These companies are some of the largest corporations in Japan. We do business with companies such as a general merchandise store giant and a major IT company, businesses with annual revenues of 4 trillion yen (40 billion US dollars) and 11 trillion yen (110 billion US dollars) respectively.
- We are a consulting company, and we are able to offer many opportunities to a variety of companies to extend their business.
- For example, when a major supermarket wanted many varieties of tomatoes, we introduced them to farmers from our network. We facilitated the super market’s building their own tomato farms with the assistance of tomato farming experts.
- Another example involves our assisting a major IT company to develop a new greenhouse technology model to introduce to and enter into the agricultural sector.
In recent years, many companies hitherto unrelated to agriculture have been entering the farming sector in a variety of ways.
| Company type | Annual revenue (USD) | Agri Connect’s consultation |
|---|---|---|
| Railway company | 2.0 billion |
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| Travel agency | 3.1 billion |
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| Advertisement agency | 2,419 billion |
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| Supermarket and restaurant chain |
4.2 billion |
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| Food manufacturer | 1,197 billion |
|
Farmers
- In collaboration with many local government bodies in Japan, we run schools (“juku”) for agricultural education. We build and deliver a detailed curriculum for local farmers who are interested in business in agriculture.
- The purpose of each school is to educate and train the next leaders of each local area.
- There are many farmers who are highly skilled in agriculture and they are also keen to grow their businesses. These farmer-students are highly motivated to become better managers of their companies.
- We have been working with these schools and local governments for 5 years. We run 5 schools all over Japan, and approximately 100 students graduate from these schools every year. These individuals have gone on to build and grow their farming businesses successfully .This means that we have a wide-ranging network of about 500 farmers and agricultural businessmen all over Japan.
Government
- The Japanese Department of Agriculture emphasizes the importance of strengthening the local agricultural sector. It hopes to promote the collaboration between corporations and farmers which goes beyond a simple trade relationship.
- DOA is interested in us because we have the appropriate network for their aims and objectives.
- History of agriculture business in Japan.
- The aging population in Japan has also affected the agricultural industry. There are many elderly farmers and also farms that have no inheritors. This has meant that many farmland has been abandoned. This is an opportunity for many young ambitious farmers to use this land to expand their businesses. They are keen to extend their projects beyond Japan and they are interested in our global network.
- Until recently most Japanese farmers depended on the Japanese Agricultural Union (Nokyo) to promote their produce and to decide the prices of their produce. These farmers are dependent on Nokyo for a living.
Why we do these things
We hope to strengthen the agricultural industries of Asia.
- We believe that Japan can lead other Asian countries.
- Agriculture in Asia is not a mature industry.
- We believe that a strong farmer-business presence is necessary.
- For example, in Japan there are many small businesses in the farming sector and the average revenue for each small business is 3.4million JPY(34,000USD). We feel that the farming sector has enough potential for the average revenue to be about 100million JPY(1million USD)
- Currently the Japanese and other Asian agricultural industries are closed industries that lack dynamism. But the industry has much potential for dynamism and growth. Other industries are increasingly interested in and therefore hoping to enter the farming sector. This is optimal time for unlocking the potential of the Japanese and other Asian agricultural industries and bring about a change in paradigm.
- We believe it is our role to connect the farming industry with other business sectors.
- But first we must educate and equip farmers with adequate business knowledge, skills and values for them to be able to participate on the global stage.
EXECTIVE OFFICERS
President and Director
Iori Kumamoto
Education
BA, Osaka Prefecture University, Economics Major
Work Experience
- Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.
- Funai Consulting Inc.
- Managing Director, MI Consulting Group Corporation
- President and Director, Agri Connect Co., Ltd.
Other Activities
- Member of Agricultural HR council expert committee for Kyoto Prefecture.
- Project Researcher of The Distribution Economics Institute of Japan.
- Associate coordinator of JFACO.
Achievement
- Starting up new agricultural department and business.
- Consulting for lots of big enterprises (ex, Advertising Firm, IT companies, Travel Agency, Famous Supermarket, Railway Company, Financial Institutions, Food Manufacturers and Food Wholesaler ) to entry into new market especially agricultural industry.
- New Strategies Development for Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and local government.
- Handling some regional vitalization projects and marketing research of agricultural products in some area projects.
- As a lecturer at Business Management Institute of Agricultural Owner in Kumamoto, Nagano, Gifu, Gunma and Miyagi.
Executive Vice President and Director
Yoshiaki Maeda
Education
BA, Senshu University, Business Administration Major
Work Experience
- Funai Consulting Inc.
- President, K’onnect LLP
- Executive Vice President and Director, Agri Connect Co., Ltd.
Other Activities
- Associate coordinator of JFACO.
Achievement
- Consulting for lots of big enterprises (ex, Advertising Firm, IT companies, Travel Agency, Famous Supermarket, Railway Company, Financial Institutions, Food Manufacturers and Food Wholesaler ) to entry into new market especially agricultural industry.
- Starting up to execute Circular Agriculture and Food Recycling to some companies.
- New Strategies Development for Agricultural Corporation and farmers.
- Handling wholesale business all over Japan and exploration of sales.
- As a lecturer at Business Management Institute of Agricultural Owner in Kumamoto, Kyoto, Nagasaki, Miyazaki and Miyagi.
Director and Exective Manager
Yukimitsu Kihara
Education
MA, University of Electro-Communications, Business Administration Major
Work Experience
- Funai Consulting Inc.
- Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd
- Managing Director, Agri Connect Co., Ltd.
Achievement
- Consulting for lots of big enterprises (ex, ICT companies, Travel Agency, Telecommunications carrier, Railway Company, Financial Institutions, Food Manufacturers and) to entry into new market especially agricultural industry.
- Consulting for lots of government bodies( Nagano, Kumamoto, Nara and others).
- Starting up to new business and DD for M&A in agricultural sector.
- Supervising to make financial plan and manual of production process for farmers.
- New Strategies Development for Agricultural Corporation and farmers.
- As a lecturer at Business Management Institute of Agricultural Owner in Kumamoto and Kyoto.