Unable to find a supermarket to sell Japanese Operators using Whale Meat Distributor for sale instead
On January 29, 2023, the AP news agency reported that Japanese whaling operators have found a new channel to sell whale meat. through an automatic vending machine After encountering a strong anti-whaling current Until supermarkets do not allow it to be sold.
A shop without sales people called Kujira Store, which means whale shop. Installed 3 whale meat distributors located in Yokohama. Near Tokyo, there are whale sashimi, whale bacon and whale meat in the cupboards for 1,000 yen and 3,000 yen.
In the vending machine is a picture of a whale cartoon. And this shop is the third shop within the neighborhood near the city. The other two stores are in Tokyo. It is part of Kyodo Senpaku Co.’s sales push plan.
Whale meat has long been a controversial topic. But it will be seen that sales of these press machines have been going well from the very beginning. Whale meat activists attack whaling opponents He has funded protests since 2019 that ended whaling research in the Antarctic. And commercial whaling began again in the coastal cities of Japan.
Conservation groups say they are concerned that leaving these operators will lead to a further expansion of whaling.
“This point is not just a whale vending machine. this is where it leads as well,” said Nanami Kurasawa, head of the Iruka and Kujira (Dolphins and Whales) Operations Network.
Kurazawa also revealed that whaling activists’ lobby group has increased the number of whales outside the established areas.
Kyodo Senpaku spokesman Konomu Kubo said the company aims to expand to 100 whale meat vending machines nationwide within five years, with a fourth opening in Osaka in February.
Whale meat sales channel through a vending machine near the supermarket It stems from the fact that customers cannot find it in supermarkets. Entrepreneurs in this field struggle to find a way to survive. And this cabinet doesn’t need to rely on vendors either.
Most of the whale meat that is sold in cabinets is caught in the north east of the country. After Japan resumed commercial whaling. Since July 2019 after Japan withdrew from the whaling committee. IWC Ending more than 30 years of research that has allowed Japan to hunt whales under statute.
of such a situation Kyodo Senpaku has announced that it will build a new whaling ship worth 6 billion yen from next year. to replace the old Nisshin Maru
However, the whaling business is uncertain whether it can continue or not. After the resistance, Japan did not allow any other nations to support them. Only Iceland was the last country.
Only a few hundred Japanese were involved in whaling. and there is only one market share thinking operator 0.1% of the meat eating market in recent years Especially in the new generation who do not eat much whale meat.
