On 20th February 2024, Ambassador Baraka Luvanda held a discussion with Mr. Masahiro Shiota, the CEO of Hardnut International Ltd., on exploring avenues for enhancing Tanzania's cashew nut industry and ways to further access the Japanese market.
Ambassador Luvanda expressed gratitude to Mr. Shiota's for visiting to the Embassy and welcomed his company's expertise, as the leading nut trading firms in Japan. He briefed on Tanzania's cashew nut industry and invited Mr. Shiota to share his thoughts.
On his part, Mr. Shiota made a comprehensive presentation including, his company's profile, the history of the nut industry in Japan, and the role of the Japan Nuts Association in safeguarding the industry. He highlighted the fact that Japan's nut industry predominantly imports macadamia and almond nuts, with a significantly higher volume of imports than cashew nuts. He then advised Tanzania to consider trading with Japan in macadamia nuts, as they have a good chance of growing in Tanzania's climate and altitude.
Regarding cashew nuts, Mr. Shiota shared that most of Japan's cashew nuts come from India and Vietnam, and that Japanese nut companies prefer processed cashew nuts to raw ones. To penetrate the Japanese market, he stressed that Tanzania would need to supply high-quality, reliable, and consistent quantities of processed cashew nuts. However, he revealed that at the moment Japan imports only a small amount of processed cashew nuts from Tanzania, around three containers, as a starting market by small companies which are operating in Tanzania namely, Baraka Co. Ltd and Matoborwa Company.
Ambassador Luvanda expressed his appreciation for Mr. Shiota's valuable counsel and requested a courtesy visit to his company to further study and research the nut industry to advise relevant authorities in Tanzania.
