NPC to Japan Pt 2

NPC to Japan Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The National Potato Council has been negotiating with Japanese officials for over 20 years in an effort to get U.S. fresh potatoes into that market.

CEO Kam Quarles is in Tokyo this week to continue talks, trying to convince their stubborn domestic growers that this would be a good thing …

QUARLES … “Right now, they have no imports that come into Japan, fresh table stock imports. They have, effectively, a monopoly on their domestic market and, you know, if you’ve got a monopoly, I assume that they’re valuable for those folks who have them and they want to keep them.”

But Quarles says the demand for MORE potatoes is there …

QUARLES … “The demand is certainly there for more, in fact, when you look at potato chips in Japan, they have such a volatile supply of potatoes that you’ll often see these huge spikes in chip prices because they simply don’t have the access to the potatoes they need to serve their own market.”

Quarles says they’ll be there all week …

QUARLES … “Hopefully, we’re going to keep raising the issue. We’re not going away. Hopefully, we’ll meet with the U.S. Ambassador there, certainly the entire team at the U.S. Embassy, and just keep strategizing how to break past this political impasse.”

Again, that’s National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles who is in Tokyo this week pushing U.S. fresh potatoes for the Japanese market.

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