Our Departments

We, the North and South America Section of the Export Sales Department, are engaged in sales activities mainly to the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico.
We handle a wide variety of product categories, from retail to commercial, as well as supplying food ingredients to food service companies that are doing business overseas.
Our main work includes not only the stable supply of existing products and the discovery of new offerings, but also investigation and document collection regarding raw materials to ensure compliance with local regulations and the preparation of quotations that take into account exchange rates and ocean freight charges. This requires a great deal of effort and time when exporting even a single product.
After going through such a process, when I receive an order from a local market or see a product I was in charge of actually being sold there, it simultaneously provides me with a great sense of reward and accomplishment.

I belong to the Product Department, which is mainly engaged in the development of private brand and OEM products for the JFC Group worldwide. Each product category is handled by different staff, and my role is product planning for products produced both in Japan and elsewhere.
To create a product, we determine product standards and flavors through repeated discussions with local staff in charge in each country and absorbing the demands there, and coordinate with each department to create products that comply with laws and regulations in each country (including by manufacturers) and meet local needs.
There are many difficult parts to this process, such as repeated prototyping, and the burden of responsibility is heavy, but it is a job that gives me a great sense of fulfillment, and it is a job that feels fun everyday.
The most exciting moment for me is when the products, which I have worked together with local JFC staff and manufacturers to create, are actually lined up on shelves at local supermarkets and reach the hands of customers. I am able to engage with the creation of products while challenging myself and learning every day.

I belong to the Quality Control Section of the Quality Control Department. The main duties of my organization include factory inspections of JFC's own brands, support for the preparation of HACCP plans, compliance with regulations for each country, and checking of packages for export.
I have many opportunities to communicate with entities outside JFC, such as exchanging information with overseas Group companies and requesting improvements from manufacturers with whom we do business.
Quality control may not be a department that generates immediate results, but one where we are deemed to be performing well when food accidents have not occurred for a long period of time. This means that, while it may be challenging to feel a direct sense of fulfillment here, our specialized work lends a sense of constant and persistent elevation of our own insights.
I often take overseas visits for factory inspections and quality control meetings with Group companies, which gives me many opportunities to experience different cultures.

Marketing & Planning Dept. mainly provides support to food service companies in exporting food ingredients for opening new locations overseas. In cooperation with stakeholder departments and local import wholesalers (our Group companies and partner companies), we provide one-stop services for food ingredients that our customers wish to export, from researching the possibility of imports in the destination country, estimating the wholesale price of local store that combines delivery costs and product prices, purchasing food ingredients according to the planned store opening timing, exporting (by sea or air), local importing, and store delivery.
JFC's core business is to export Japanese food overseas, which makes it an extremely valuable experience to be involved at the forefront of the overseas expansion of food service companies, an activity that is classically representative of JFC. At the same time, the knowledge, speed, and adaptability required are high, ad though I do struggle in the day-to-day work, I put my all into my job while feeling a sense of fulfillment.

The Import and Domestic Inside Sales Section of the Special Sales Department is a small team compared to other departments, but its work is diverse. Our main duties include searching for overseas food products that may be in demand in the Japanese domestic market, negotiating prices with manufacturers, developing products for import into Japan, and managing marine transportation and customs clearance operations. In parallel, we also conduct sales activities for domestic retailers, wholesalers, food service companies, and other customers.
While it is fun to learn about the ingredients and cultures of different countries, there are many factors that are influenced by differences in business practices and global conditions, calling for flexibility and responsiveness that are not bound by conventional concepts.
I feel the significance of this job when I see products that I have been involved in, with the cooperation of our customers, on store shelves, or when overseas manufacturers begin to learn about Japanese culture through business with us.