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Frozen food sales in sharp drop; new regime may curb imports: with Japanese population shrinking, and aging, industry faces challenging times ahead.

Article Excerpt
Frozen food consumption in Japan declined for the second year in a row during 2008, and the pace of decline accelerated to 7.3%, due mainly to a sharp 27.4% drop in imported prepared foods. Imported vegetables were down 6.2%, but those imports could become the target of the new government, which has championed "food security" and aims to step up domestic production.

Retail and institutional tonnage for domestic frozen products both declined, 3.4% to 625,840 for the former and 5.7% to 945,556 for the latter. Retail share was only 35.7%, a point higher than for 2008. Retail value of domestic production increased 2.7% to 246,167 [yen] billion, while institutional value dipped 1.6% to 418,045 billion [yen].

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which on Aug. 30 defeated the Liberal Democratic Party by a laudslide, wants to cut food imports that make up 59% of Japan's total supply, helping local farmers at the expense of growers in the United...

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