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Viewing cable 06TOKYO4424, WHALING: TOUTING HEALTH BENEFITS, JAPAN MARKETS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TOKYO4424 2006-08-07 06:25 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tokyo
VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKO #4424/01 2190625
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 070625Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5077
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 0425
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1559
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0906
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1725
RUEHRK/AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK 0139
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 1091
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0600
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 3776
UNCLAS TOKYO 004424 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR D, G and OES/OA - MHAYES/JFIELD AND EAP/J 
USDOC FOR NOAA/NMFS - US IWC COMMISSIONER HOGARTH AND 
McCARTHY 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EFIS KSCA IWC JA ETRD
SUBJECT: WHALING: TOUTING HEALTH BENEFITS, JAPAN MARKETS 
WHALE MEAT TO CAFETERIA INDUSTRY 
 
REF: A) 05 TOKYO 2193; B) 05 TOKYO 2932; 
     C) 05 TOKYO 6131; D) 06 TOKYO 2073; E) 06 TOKYO 2229 
     F) 06 TOKYO 2848; G) 06 TOKYO 2965 
 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  In an effort to develop consumer demand for its 
increasing stockpile of whale meat (refs), the GOJ-linked 
"Geishoku Labo" (Whale Food Lab) held a whale tasting and 
lecture on July 27 in downtown Tokyo.  From more than 
thirty recipes that Geishoku Labo created, the company 
offered sashimi (raw whale meat), whale fries, and whale 
meatballs.  In opening presentations, nutrition experts 
contended that whale meat helps prevent heart disease, 
Alzheimer's disease and other illnesses while they 
deflected criticism that much whale meat is laden with 
toxic pollutants.  The company intends to target the 
institutional market by emphasizing the health benefits 
of whale meat.  END SUMMARY 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
"Geishoku Labo": GOJ-Created Marketing Company 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
2.  The whale meat marketing company Geishoku Labo began 
operations on May 1, 2006 with former marketing 
consultant Hiroshi Nakada as president.  The idea for the 
company was cooked up during the past year by a whale 
meat promotion advisory committee, created by the 
Fisheries Agency of Japan (FAJ) and the GOJ funded 
Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR).  The committee, 
whose other members included a director at Rakuten (a 
Japanese online merchandiser) and a fisheries products 
manager at a major Japanese supermarket chain, met six 
times to explore ways of promoting the consumption of 
whale meat.  The product of these deliberations, Geishoku 
Labo, is a limited liability company capitalized with Yen 
one million (USD 9,000) of Nakada's own money.  The 
company has borrowed Yen 25 million (USD 225,000) in 
operating funds from the ICR, and started with five 
employees. 
 
3.  Nakada's strategy is to "forget the traditional 
clich about whale meat" -- its connection to Japanese 
culture, or the debate on whether whale meat is delicious 
or not.  In a conversation with EST FSN, he emphasized 
the healthy benefits of whale meat -- low cholesterol, 
high protein, and rich in iron, minerals, and the 
"healthy oils" EPA and DHA.  Using this angle, he intends 
to target the institutional market including direct sales 
to hospitals, company cafeterias and home delivery 
services.  He claimed that the whale meat market, with 
its supply determined annually, needed the stable demand 
provided by institutional buyers.  Owing to expanding 
research whaling, the whale meat supply in Japan will 
increase to a total of 8,000 tons in 2006, from 1,700- 
1,800 tons in the 1990s.  Nakada also plans to expand 
online, direct-to-consumer marketing. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
MARKETING STRATEGY: HEALTH BENEFITS AND NEW RECEIPES 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
4.  The July 27 event, attended by fifty representatives 
from the cafeteria industry and press, highlighted 
Nakada's strategy of emphasizing the health benefits of 
whale meat.  In his opening remarks, Haruo Horiuchi, 
Managing Director for the Japan Industrial Food Service 
Association, noted that whale meat from research whaling 
is traceable, which is inline with the association's 
principle of country/area-of-origin labeling.  In 
following lectures on nutrition, Kazunaga Yazawa, 
Professor of Health Food Science at Tokyo University of 
Marine Science and Technology, emphasized that whale meat 
contains abundant amounts of balenine (which he claimed 
increases physical strength), collagen and coenzyme Q10. 
He went on to say that some parts of whale meat contain 
more EPA (helps prevent heart diseases) and DHA (helps 
prevent Alzheimer's disease) than tuna. 
 
5.  The participants were then served three whale meat 
sample dishes: sashimi (raw whale meat), whale fries, and 
whale meatballs.  Nakada explained that the company has 
come up with more than 30 recipes, such as one for a 
hamburger patty, consisting of 20 percent whale meat, 70 
percent chicken and 10 percent blubber.  He claimed the 
"whaleburger" costs the same as a one made of pork 
(around USD 1), while its EPA/DHA content makes it much 
more nutritious.  According to a Geishoku Labo Public 
Relations employee, numerous attendees ordered the 
company's sample whale meat and said they would like to 
see an increase in the whale meat supply.  He stressed 
that the unique nature of whale meat -- that it can be 
used like fish or meat -- would enable the cafeteria 
industry to offer more varied menus.  Geishoku Labo 
purchases whale meat directly from the ICR and sells red 
meat at ICR-determined prices: red meat at Yen 2,243 (USD 
19) per kilogram, breast meat at Yen 1,725 (USD 15), 
shredded meat at Yen 1,725 (USD 15), all from Sei, minke, 
and other whales. 
 
--------------------------- 
POLLUTANT LEVELS DOWNPLAYED 
--------------------------- 
 
6.  In response to questions about the PCB and mercury 
content of whale meat, the ICR contends that the level of 
these pollutants in red meat, blubber and kidneys of 
minke whales from the Antarctic Ocean are all below the 
level that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 
(MHLW) regards as safe.  However, the mercury level in 
sperm whales in the Northwestern Pacific far exceeds the 
MHLW standards, and the ICR does not sell sperm whale 
meat at the time. 
 
7. Regarding labeling the origin of whale meat, according 
to Nanami Kurasawa, Secretary General for the Dolphin and 
Whale Action Network, a Tokyo-based anti-whaling NGO, the 
July 2002 revision of the Japan Agricultural Standards 
Law has led to decreased false labeling.  The revision 
stipulates that for fresh food (such as fish and whale), 
vendors must display the place where it was caught.  In 
accordance with the law, Geishoku Labo labels the ocean 
(the Antarctic Ocean or the Northwestern Pacific Ocean) 
and month/year when the whale was caught on each box of 
whale meat. 
 
--------------------------- 
COMMERCIAL WHALING BY 2009? 
--------------------------- 
 
8.  While the results of the GOJ's marketing initiative 
have yet to be seen, given the diverse tastes of Japanese 
consumers, whale meat could find its place as a niche 
market.  In response to such expected demand, FAJ Far 
Seas Fisheries Division's Deputy Director Hideki Moronuki 
remarked at the whale tasting event that his own wishful 
thinking is to resume commercial whaling by 2009. 
However, whether it is possible to do so without 
government subsidies remains to be seen, and will depend 
largely on the success of the GOJ's marketing 
initiatives. 
 
SCHIEFFER