[Media Saito Co., Ltd.] A challenge to farmers’ eternal themes! !
*View in browser* *Media Saito Co., Ltd.*
Press release: April 1, 2024
April Dream Project
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A challenge to the eternal theme of farmers! !
*The first step towards creating new products and specialty products using non-standard agricultural products*
This press release is a dream sent out by a business operator who sympathizes with the April Dream project and wants to make April 1st a day full of dreams, hoping to make them come true.
Our company supports April Dream, which aims to make April 1st the day to share dreams. This press release is a dream of “Media Saito Co., Ltd.”
My dream is to play a role that connects “people to people and companies to companies,” which is our company’s motto.
It’s about creating new things and sharing new ideas with each other.
The reason for this is that I have been indebted to you for many years. In a conversation with Mr. Kawashima of Kawashima Farm in Sodegaura City, Mr. Kawashima, who is over 80 years old,
How many more years can I farm? It started with the question… The answer is that it will be good if you can do it for 4 to 5 years, depending on your physical condition.
Since I had been renting fields for many years, I started to see if there was something I could do to return the favor.
As I listened to small talk about the worries and problems of various farmers, After hearing that the biggest problem was that it could not be shipped to the market due to scratches or differences in size, After hearing about the current situation where the agricultural products that we have spent so much time and effort on cannot even be sold,
Even though I have never farmed before, I somehow managed to solve the problem that is the eternal theme of farmers all over the country. I came up with a solution using my experience in various part-time jobs and jobs.
As I was promoting the SDGS, I searched for my own answer and found… I wanted to create new products using so-called substandard vegetables and fruits.
Moreover, if possible, I would like to make it a specialty product of the city…
So, the first time I made it was to make a liqueur using Takami melons that were thinned out and thrown away.
I also heard that it can be made into alcohol if it has a high sugar content, so I decided to try making a liqueur using corn.
It was also by chance that I learned of a company in the neighboring city of Kisarazu that processes small quantities into alcoholic beverages.
At first, I was thinking of making sake and handing it out to Mr. Kawashima and my customers and then calling it a day.
It would be fun to sell it. I got the idea and got a retail liquor license and started selling it.
We have now obtained a wholesale liquor sales license for liqueurs and wines. There are still many substandard agricultural products, so we thought about what would be a good way to create new products.
As a product that is not limited by gender or age, from children to adults, I was worried about this every day…
I talked to a Japanese-style gelato chef I met at the Japan Treasure Circle Inter-Express Contest, and…
We asked for ice cream made from non-standard agricultural products, and a wonderful craftsman made delicious ice cream. We are a company that manufactures ice cream with great care, so we are grateful for this encounter.
Two years later, this ice cream won the latest sweets category at Japan’s Treasure Japan Tournament in February of this year.
Won the semi-grand prize. In August, I am planning to participate in the world competition in Singapore.
Last year, I borrowed Mr. Kawashima’s field that he hadn’t used in several years and tried making soba noodles.
Last summer, it was so hot that more than 90% of the plants didn’t bear fruit, which was disappointing.
I hope to be able to successfully harvest the soba noodles in the fall, and soon I will be able to turn the soba I have grown into dried noodles and sell them.
Currently, we sell soba grown in Sodegaura City from our kitchen truck at events on Saturdays and Sundays.
I like this “April
After learning about “Dream”, please send your current thoughts and feelings as a message to various people.I hope they will agree with the same thoughts even if just a little, or for those who want to do something but are worried about what to do. We would like to exchange information and opinions together.
As for future developments, there are still many different farmers in the city, so we will continue to interact with them.
I would like to use all kinds of ideas to develop products using a variety of non-standard agricultural products.
This year, we have begun creating new products in cooperation with a new agricultural cooperative corporation.
The goal is to advance this action in Sodegaura City, and if we go further, we can go beyond the prefecture to Tokyo and other cities. By interacting with people in Kanagawa, Saitama, and Ibaraki prefectures, we will gradually expand our efforts.
We want to create specialties by effectively utilizing substandard agricultural products from farmers in prefectures across the country. I would like to work with people who support such actions.
“April Dream” is a PR event where companies send out their dreams that they would like to achieve in the future on April 1st.
This is a project by TIMES. We are seriously aiming to make this dream come true.
*About details about this release*
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