MEDIA
WHAT YOU MISSED IN THE JAPANESE PRESS
BY MARK SCHREIBER
Abenomics at Work ?
Rolls-Royce Ghost — sales by the luxury carmaker increased in Japan over last year .
When things get better for the average person , they will generally go out and spend their extra money .
The Sankei Shimbun ( 28 April ) uses the term puchi zeitaku ( petit luxury ) to describe this phenomenon , which may be an indicator of rising consumer confidence .
In an internet survey of 1,400 adults regarding consumption , 7.3 % of respondents told the newspaper that they felt like splurging on something , up 1.5 % year on year .
Equally telling is the 27.9 %— down 5.8 % from 2012 — who said they planned to spend even less than usual .
At the other end of the spectrum , sales in the first three months of 2013 surpassed those of the IT boom that had taken place 10 years earlier , a marketing executive at foreign luxury vehicle importer Cornes Motors Ltd . told the Nikkei Business ( 22 April ).
Orders for Ferraris , Maseratis and Rolls- Royces , priced at ¥ 10mn and over , were up 20 % year on year , and super-luxury models costing ¥ 20mn or more had doubled , he said .
During February and March , sales of jewellery and high-priced brand items at department stores were said to be doing well . “ While we saw some price increases for luxury brand goods , due to the yen ’ s depreciation , this has had no effect on customers ’ desire to purchase . Moreover , purchases per customer have risen ”, according to Koji Suzuki , president of Takashimaya Co ., Ltd .
The middle classes , however , are feeling the squeeze in the form of higher consumer prices and social service costs . Firms that cater to wage earners and their families are expecting the business environment to remain severe .
The article concludes that economic recovery cannot be proclaimed until the blessings of Abenomics show signs that they have trickled down to the masses .
Working to Reduce Waste
Sixteen major firms — including foodstuffs manufacturers , distributors and retailers — have formed a working group to seek a means of reducing the volume of merchandise returns and disposal .
But accomplishing this , it is believed , will require the industry to change longestablished business practices . As a result of their deliberations since last autumn , Shukan Toyo Keizai ( 18 May ) reports that , from June , delivery times will be extended on an experimental basis .
The shomi kigen ( best-before date ), which appears on processed foods , indicates the recommended time until which good flavour is maintained . Slightly extending this presents no problems in terms of safety . However , as the dates approach , food manufacturers are unable to ship goods from their existing inventories , on top of which they must also accept returned , unsold goods .
This has come about through the rule-of-thumb system — also known as the one-third rule — that is in force . Distributors and retailers initially accept one-third of the production lot of food with a shelf life of six months ( for example , two months ’ worth ) as a means of promoting food freshness .
The system , which has been widely used since the 1990s , has led to a massive quantity of returns . According to industry estimates , they reached a value of some ¥ 113.9bn in 2010 .
While a portion of returned merchandise is reshipped to discount retailers , most of it is discarded . This accounts for approximately half of the estimated 8mn tonnes of food wasted each year in Japan .
The working group has proposed that the one-third limit be extended to one-half , which manufacturers estimate will reduce the amount of unshipped goods by as much as 60 %. This will help manufacturers ’ bottom line by reducing the cost of disposal of expired items , while avoiding excess production .
The possible disadvantages include the likelihood of retailers cutting prices as the cut-off dates approach , as well as a drop-off in sales demand by customers who insist that their food be as fresh as possible . “ We ’ ll need to watch closely to see how things develop ”, said an executive at a major retailer .
12 | BCCJ ACUMEN | JUNE 2013