The AEON Taste of Malaysia Fair in Japan was held over a period of three days from the 20th to 22nd October 2017, simultaneously at four other AEON stores in Tokyo, namely; AEON Kasai Tokyo, AEON Shinonome Tokyo, AEON Style Himonya Tokyo and AEON Style Minamisuna Tokyo.

The three-day fair showcased 18 companies of Malaysian food items including fruits; 2 non-food items such as Malaysian pewter as well as health and beauty brands by SMEs besides AEON’s Private Label; TopValu at all the five participating AEON stores.

Yang Berhomat Dato’ Seri Hamzah Bin Zainudin officiated the AEON Taste of Malaysia Fair in the presence of YBhg Datuk Iskandar Sarudin, Chairman of AEON CO. (M) BHD.; and Mr Soichi Okazaki, Chief Executive Officer, AEON Retail Co., Ltd. Mr. Shinobu Washizawa, Managing Director of AEON CO. (M) BHD. and Mr. Poh Ying Loo, Executive Director of AEON CO. (M) BHD. were also present at the launch.

Speaking at the launch, Datuk Iskandar Sarudin, Chairman of AEON CO. (M) BHD. said, “We are honored to host the Taste of Malaysia event for the 4th time in Japan to further promote Malaysian products and also our culture, heritage and tourism. This is made possible due to the overwhelming response from our valuable customers in Japan who have learned to accept and appreciate Malaysian products. Through this platform, we intend to create a market for Malaysian products and also halal products. There is a need to increase the number of halal food to ensure that there is sufficient halal products way ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020. We also foresee a demand for halal products to cater to the Muslim community and also the Muslim tourism market in Japan”.

To date, the Taste of Malaysia program has enabled 159 products from a total of 20 companies to be available throughout 5 AEON stores to cater to the Muslim community in Japan.

With limited availability of Halal foods for Muslims in Japan, coupled with the increase in the number of Muslim visitors, this initiative will be a great leap forward to cater to the needs and demands of Halal food, which are increasing day by day.

“We want to position AEON as the preferred destination for Malaysia’s halal products in Japan as we cater to the growing Muslim population of 100,000. We believe that through the concerted effort and our continuous collaboration with MDTCC, it will pave the way towards enabling AEON to further grow the halal market,” concluded Datuk Iskandar.

While enjoying the Malaysian food, visitors to the Fair were treated to a series of spectacular performances of the Malaysian Culture of traditional music and dance. Product and cooking demonstration, food sampling as well as product displays were showcased to highlight Malaysian high quality products for potential future market in Japan. Visitors were also given a preview of Malaysia as a tourist destination, rich in its diverse culture.