Many of the greatest Japanese business successes have emerged in the face of adversity and obstacles. On an island nation with limited arable landmass, building a seed development and production business is not without its challenges. Yet, Tokita Seed Co., Ltd. has bloomed, becoming an industry leader worldwide through hard work and innovation. Japan’s climate extremes of hot summers, cold winters and autumn typhoons, in addition to its topographical issues, combine to create some of the worst conditions for agriculture, according to Iwao Tokita, the firm’s president and CEO. “Despite this, we have to eat to live, and the Japanese are so demanding with food,” Tokita said. “So, we try to develop vegetable varieties that thrive in temperature variations, while we have to continuously develop disease-resistant varieties. This is the fundamental background that has allowed Japan to become a world leader in varieties development,” he added. Even allowing for his country’s geographic hurdles, the meticulous and precise nature of seed production by natural pollination on an industrial scale is also a major challenge.
“Japan has a strong culture, and our business temperament tends to be very patient” – Iwao Tokita
Tokita Seed channels decades of experience into its cultivation.
The firm’s teams must work hard to achieve a maximum yield from fruit and vegetables in order to maintain the production of top-quality seeds. The tricky nature of such work is one of the reasons the company has international affiliates in China, India, Italy, the U.S. and Chile, mitigating hemispheric risks such as unusual climate or crop concerns on either side of the planet. “To sell seeds, obviously, we need to produce seeds. That is a very difficult avenue to explore and in Japan, this is very challenging due to our climate and the acreage required,” said Tokita. The company’s international connections also led to its initiatives, Gusto Italia and Oishii Nippon Project, which develop and market Italian vegetables in Japan and Japanese vegetables to rest of the world–to great success. This global interest and meticulous approach also plays a major role in the company’s international sales and customer relations strategy.
With more than 100 years of experience in the field, Tokita tailors its products to different nations and regions. India is a huge area of potential growth. The company’s research, for example, includes which type and variety of cabbages are more popular than others as it seeks to cater to a massive population. “India is a giant with a growing population that is unbelievably attractive to us. In a meeting a while back, I happened to ask about eastern India’s market size, which is currently covered by only six sales representatives. They came back nonchalantly saying that it’s around 300 million people,” said Tokita. To keep up with demand, in the face of the current and worsening crises in population aging and the workforce shortage, the firm plans to utilize the latest technology. In the agriculture sector, automation and robotics technologies are being rolled out to help with harvesting processes, while for its part, Tokita Seed is also developing varieties of less labor-intensive vegetables. With success at home and abroad, the company is well-placed to drive the industry into the future. “As an industry, I can proudly say that Japan is very advanced and is very much leading the world,” said Tokita.
