JAPAN and the WORLD Magazine APRIL ISSUE 2016 #Issue 15 | Page 34

CACAO SAMPAKA
COCOA
INTERVIEW
時空を超えたカカオの旅
JOURNEY OF COCOA
ACROSS TIME AND SPACE
FROM SPAIN TO JAPAN, TOWARD THE FUTURE OF THE COCOA BELT
スペインから日本へ、
カカオベルトの未来に向かって
MR. FUMIHIRO YAMASAKI
PRESIDENT OF CACAO SAMPAKA JAPAN AND GENERAL MANAGER
OF THE ASIA DEPARTMENT AT CACAO SAMPAKA, S.A.
concept of delivering good tasting and quality
cocoa. It took me nearly two years after my
first visit to the company in Barcelona to
convince all the stakeholders to agree to my
business plan in Japan and finally get the
contract.
INTRODUCTION
Fumihiro Yamasaki is the president of
Cacao Sampaka Japan and the general
manager of the Asia Department at
Cacao Sampaka, S.A., an associate
company within the Nederland Group,
led by Nederland S.A. headquartered
in Barcelona. Founded in 1935, the
Nederland Group is Spain’s largest
importer and manufacturer of cocoa.
Cacao Sampaka was established in
1999 and made a spectacular debut
in Barcelona by implementing new
possibilities and ideas in the chocolate
industry. Cacao Sampaka attracts visitors
from around the world, which has resulted
in the opening of stores in major cities in
Spain and in other countries such as Saudi
Arabia, Brazil and Japan.
JAPAN and the WORLD sat down with
Mr. Yamasaki to deepen our knowledge
about the cocoa industry.
山﨑文裕はカカオサンパカ・ジャパン社の社長で
あり、
カカオサンパカ社アジア部門の総支配人でも
ある。
カカオサンパカ社はバルセロナを本拠とする
ネダーランド社が率いるネダーランドグループに
属している。
1935年創業のネダーランドグループは
スペイン最大のカカオ輸入・製造会社である。
カカオサンパカは1999年に設立され、チョコレー
ト業界に新しい可能性やアイデアを打ち出して、
バルセロナで鮮烈なデビューを果たした。
カカオ
サンパカは世界中から訪れる人々を魅了し、現在、
スペイン国内の主要都市をはじめ、サウジアラビ
ア、
ブラジル、
日本など国内外で店舗を展開する。
JAPAN and the WORLDは、
カカオ産業について
より深く知るため、山﨑社長にお話を伺った。
33 // APRIL 2016
What are unique points about
chocolate consumption in Japan?
Annual chocolate consumption per capita in
Japan was 1.8 kg in 2000 and 2.0 kg in 2014.
Although it is much less than the consumption
in Europe or the United States, Japan is the
largest chocolate consumer in Asia.
Mr. Fumihiro Yamasaki
President of Cacao Sampaka Japan and the
General Manager of the Asia Department
at Cacao Sampaka, S.A.
You opened the first store of Cacao
Sampaka in Japan in 2009. How did
you get involved in the chocolate
business?
I have been engaged in designing promotional
items in the sports industry and often visited
Europe, including Italy, U.K. and Spain. Once,
during my business trip to Barcelona, I was
impressed by Cacao Sampaka’s sophisticated
and conceptual shop, and learned that it was a
sought-after brand that many companies had
tried to introduce in Japan.
I was further interested in the brand, as
the company had a policy of looking at an
overseas partner’s individual personality
rather than just exporting its products.
Although accounting for only 2% of the
whole sales of the Nederland Group, Cacao
Sampaka was the group’s first consumer
business. The company was built using the
While the growth of domestic chocolate
consumption from 2000 to 2014 was 9%, the
import volume of chocolate from overseas
increased by around 50%. I think one of the
reasons for that is the increasing popularity
of overseas chocolatiers. In the late 1990’s,
Japanese pâtissiers, who were trained abroad
and did well at international competitions,
attracted attention. Therefore, from 2000,
various overseas chocolate brands opened
their stores in Japan. This trend had an
impact on St. Valentine’s Day on February 14
and White Day on March 14.
The chocolate market size of Valentine’s Day
in Japan is over 5 billion yen, which means
that more than 10% of the country’s annual
chocolate sales are done within two weeks.
It is an original Japanese chocolate culture
that women give chocolate to men. To express
their gratitude, men reciprocate with presents
to women on White Day. There are more than
200 brands of chocolates on sale during the
Valentine’s Day season in Japan.
Did you have a difficult time
promoting Cacao Sampaka’s
products in Japan?
Of course, there were already many chocolate
brands from Europe, but only a few brands
had their stores managed directly in Tokyo
in 2009. I saw the possibility in the essence
of cocoa beans as a natural fruit, on which
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