Japanese Consumers Balk At Buying Washington Apples Soft Sales Dash Hopes For Quick Success In Developing Market

When the first shipment of Washington apples arrived in Japan last January, there was international press coverage, rallies in the streets of Tokyo and booming sales.

One year later, Japanese consumers have returned to their native Fujis.

“Japan turns into a regular market now,” said Jim Thomas, spokesman for the Wenatchee-based Washington Apple Commission.

The 24-year battle to get U.S. apples into Japan turned out to be the easy part.

About 400,000 42-pound boxes of U.S. apples were sold during in the first month, but sales dropped off sharply and only 100,000 additional boxes were sold by the time the market closed March 31, 1995.

Now, Washington growers are faced with the daunting task of developing the potentially lucrative market.

Shippers have a long way to go before Japan rivals top export markets Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mexico, each of which imported close to 4 million boxes of apples in 1995. But with a population of 120 million people, Japan could someday match or surpass those markets.

“If we can develop a following with one in 10 consumers, we’ll have a market similar in size to Taiwan,” Thomas said.

The main complaint from Japanese consumers about the 1995 crop was the Washington apples weren’t sweet enough. This year, growers kept their fruit on the trees longer to bring out more sugar, but that means the apples could become overripe and have a shorter shelf life.

“It’s difficult to deliver a good quality apple to Japan if we let the apples hang on the tree too long - especially when you consider what the fruit goes through in handling and transport,” said Glady Bellamy, sales director for Columbia Marketing International in Wenatchee.

Japanese growers have responded to the foreign competition by lowering prices for their fruit and by selling inferior-grade apples that previously would have been diverted to processing.

Apples in Japan have traditionally been a luxury item. Consumers peel and slice the apples for dessert or give them to friends as gifts.

Washington state accounts for more than 60 percent of the fresh apples sold in the United States. Growers here produced 79.5 million boxes of apples in 1995, the third-largest crop on record.

Washington sells more than 25 percent of its annual fresh crop overseas.