New market study, "Japan Food & Drink Report Q4 2010", has been published

Oct. 6, 2010 - PRLog -- The outlook for Japan's consumer driven industries continues to remain poor as the country still suffers from weak GDP growth, a strong yen and the continued global slowdown in demand. This weak economic outlook, along with an ageing population, stagnant wage growth and market saturation will all have a negative impact on the food and drink sector's growth moving forward. The outlook for the country's mass grocery retail sector is also very shaky. After experiencing many years of strong growth as a consequence of the country's economic development, sustained periods of high consumer confidence and the modern and sophisticated tastes of its consumers, sales through such outlets have now lost momentum. Nevertheless, despite this challenging outlook, Japanese consumers remain very susceptible to product innovation and this remains a very large, wealthy and sophisticated consumer market.

Headline Industry Data

* 2010 per capita food consumption = +1.6%; forecast to 2014 = +9.2%
* 2010 alcoholic drink sales = +1.7%; forecast to 2014 = +14.2%
* 2010 soft drink sales = +4.5%; forecast to 2014 = +36.9%
* 2010 mass grocery retail sales = +0.3%; forecast to 2014 = +1.9%

Key Company Trends

Poor Performance in the Beer Sector - A number of leading brewers have posted poor results due to declining consumer demand in Japan's alcoholic drinks market. Sapporo posted a 2.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) slip in net sales to JPY177.1bn (US$2.06bn) and a 10.3% y-o-y fall in its operating income for the six months ending June 2010. Meanwhile, Kirin Breweries also reported poor financial results for H110, as revenue slipped 4.7% to JPY1.01tr (US$11.8bn). Finally, Asahi Breweries posted a 0.4% y-o-y fall in net sales; however, it also posted 15% growth in operating income for H110.

Local Firms Continue to Look Abroad - In July 2010 it was reported that Japanese beer and soft drinks giant Suntory is thinking about buying companies in the emerging Europe (EE) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions as it looks to trim its overreliance on its saturating domestic market. Japanese beverage companies have been more aggressively targeting growth outside of the Asia Pacific region, with rival Japanese beer companies Asahi and Kirin leading the way. Suntory is reportedly looking to invest in companies with annual sales in excess of US$1bn.

Key Risks to Outlook

Slowdown in China - The export-led Japanese economy continues to be heavily dependent on Chinese demand. However, overly accommodative fiscal and monetary stimuli in China have led to an overheating. As Beijing continues to intensify its tightening efforts, as we believe it will, Japanese exports could come unstuck relatively quickly, exposing the lack of intrinsic demand in the US and EU.

High Levels of Unemployment - BMI is forecasting a 5.5% unemployment rate in 2010, the highest unemployment figure since 1990. Plus, despite persistent deflationary pressures, we continue to observe barely-positive real growth rates in wages, signifying a drain on the Japanese consumer's purchasing power. If this trend is to continue, it will dampen already subdued growth forecasts.

For more information or to purchase this report, go to:
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Partial Table of Contents:

SWOT Analysis
- Japan Food SWOT
- Japan Drink SWOT
- Japan Mass Grocery Retail SWOT
Business Environment
- BMI's Core Global Industry Views
- Table: BMI Food & Drink Core Views
- Asia Pacific Business Environment Ratings
- Table: Asia Pacific Food & Drink Risk/Reward Ratings - Q4 2010
- Japan's Food And Drink Business Environment Rating
- Macroeconomic Outlook
- Table: Japan - Economic Activity
Industry Forecast Scenario
- Consumer Outlook
- Food
- Food Consumption
- Table: Food Consumption Indicators - Historical Data & Forecasts
- Confectionery
- Table: Confectionery Value/Volume Sales - Historical Data & Forecasts
- Canned Food
- Table: Canned Food Value/Volume Sales - Historical Data & Forecasts
- Trade
- Table: Japan Food & Drink Trade Indicators - Historical Data & Forecasts
- Drink
- Alcoholic Drinks
- Table: Alcoholic Drink Value/Volume Sales - Historical Data & Forecasts
- Hot Drinks
- Table: Hot Drink Value Sales - Historical Data & Forecasts
- Soft Drinks
- Table: Japan Beverage Sub-Sectors - Value Sales - Historical Data & Forecasts
- Mass Grocery Retail
- Table: Japan Mass Grocery Retail Indicators - Sales Value by Format - Historical Data & Forecasts
Food
- Industry Developments
- Market Overview
- Food Consumption
- Confectionery
- Functional Food
- Canned Food
- Frozen Food
- Trade
- Agriculture
Drink
- Industry Developments
- Market Overview
- Alcoholic Drinks
- Beer
- Wine
- Hot Drinks
- Soft Drinks
- Table: Soft Drinks Sales Breakdown In Japan (2008 estimates)
- Functional Drinks
Mass Grocery Retail
- Industry Developments
- Market Overview
- Leading MGR Players
- Table: Structure Of Japan's Mass Grocery Retail Market - Estimated Number Of Outlets
- Table: Structure Of Japan's Mass Grocery Retail Market - Sales By Format (US$bn)
- Table: Structure Of Japan's Mass Grocery Retail Market - Sales By Format (JPYbn)
- Table: Average Annual Sales Per Outlet By Format (2008)
Competitive Landscape
- Table: Key Players in Japan's Food & Drink Sector - 2009
- Table: Key Players in Japan's Mass Grocery Retail Sector
- Company Analysis
- Food
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Full Table of Contents is available at:
-- http://www.fastmr.com/catalog/product.aspx?productid=8723...

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Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world's top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.