In the field of foods such as Ethicals and Circular Economies, the movement to select products that are friendly to the environment and human rights is expanding. For example, fair trade-based chocolate and coffee are increasing in the global market, and if it is more familiar it is "safe to see the face of the producer" or "want to purchase a product of a company that is doing anything" There will also be demand such as. Especially interest in food security is increasing in recent years. That will be noticed when it comes to organic products.

To show that evidence, Marche and Farmer 's Market, where producers gather and sell agricultural products directly, have gained popularity in urban areas. The famous are Farmer's Market @ UNU and YEBISU Marche held in Omotesando. Because farmers sell directly, it is popular reason to be able to shop while communicating seasonal items and recommended way of eating. Sometimes you can find a bargain, and it is important to see the producers' face with direct sales to foster a sense of security for food. Consumer needs are also diversifying, so it's nice to have various kinds of vegetables and fruits as options.

To introduce this timeVivit gardenOperated byEating choku"Is an online marketplace specialized for organic vegetables, so to speak, an online version of Marche. I talked to Mr. Akimoto, Representative Director.

(Interview: May, 2018)

Market place where communication occurs rather than EC

Mr. Akimoto's family home is a farmhouse. Producing corn, komatsuna, persimmon and so on in small quantities of various kinds of production, agriculture was familiar. Although he joined DeNA at a new graduate and is involved in the launch of a new business and relating to the smartphone application, he also aims for entrepreneurship in agriculture with a background of confidence. Initially I was hoping to increase the number of newly employed farmers and the utilization of agricultural land that was no longer used, but gradually I felt the problem in circulation.

Even if we increase the number of newly employed workers, no one will be interested if agriculture does not make a profit in the first place. There are many farmers who are making great vegetables at the moment, but it was hard to say that both farmers and consumers were satisfied. So I decided to solve the distribution negative first, I began marketing place "eating choke" specializing in agricultural crops, specifically organic vegetables and fruits. (Mr. Akimoto, the same below)

In the first place, organic vegetables (※) are "Do not use chemically synthesized fertilizers and pesticides ... (basically) ... based on agricultural production based on agricultural production method that reduces the environmental burden as much as possible Agriculture carried out using ". The number of organic farmers is 12,000 units, which is only about 0.5% of farmers as a whole (Ministry of Agriculture and Water (2013))。

(*) In this section, vegetables that conform to the definition of organic agriculture with or without organic JAS certification are expressed as "organic vegetables". Further, the definition of organic agriculture is "Act on Promotion of Organic AgricultureSee.

It is such a precious 0.5% farmhouse to register for eating choku. Especially with regard to vegetables, it is an organic vegetable which does not use any pesticide or chemical fertilizer at all. (Some fruits and others are difficult to produce completely without pesticides, so the publication criteria is "farmers keeping the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers to less than half of prefectural standards".)

The basic structure of eating chok is very simple. Organic farmers eat vegetables and fruits at Chok, and consumers purchase it. Then the farmer sends me fresh vegetables freshly harvested by direct farmland.

However, eating choku is "community platform rather than EC" (Mr. Akimoto). If ordinary EC is purchased, it will be sent as it is, but like eating choku, real communication like Marche, communication like "how to eat recommended" and "how to raise" is occurring. Since the face of the producer can be seen, a sense of security for agricultural products is also fostered. It is tough to go to Marche all the time, if you buy a lot of vegetables you have a reasonable weight, so it is nice to deliver it to your house online.

Deliver consumer's voice to farmers, and market in agriculture

Not only for consumers but also for farmers to benefit from eating chokes are great. Since production efficiency of organic vegetables is often inferior to vegetables using agricultural chemicals etc., we would like to set a high selling price as an organic farmer. However, if it is an existing distribution system, the purchase price is fixed for every vegetable. It is a convenient system for farmers who produces and sells vegetables in large quantities, but for organic farmers, they made vegetables etc. sticking to themselves and can not raise unit price.

There are quite a few people who are farming newly aspiring for the production of organic vegetables. But, of course, the production itself may be serious, but it is not unusual to gradually produce ordinary vegetables as it can not be sold at the desired price despite the time being spared.

Therefore, in eating choku farmers can decide the selling price of vegetables. In other words, by communicating our commitment, we can sell at a reasonable price. In addition, the price becomes cheaper as the purchase amount increases.

By the way, as farmers have words such as "cabbage farmers", there is an image making a single product, but it is not unusual to make dozens of kinds of vegetables even on a small scale. So many products are sold as assorted like "summer vegetable set" or "highland vegetable set". As farmers and seasonal recommendations differ, consumers can enjoy eating chokes and vegetables without getting tired of it. There are cases where the farmers voluntarily make special features, and there are cases where farmers sell by eating choke saying "I will do this kind of feature". We plan a vegetable set with a parchi if the fish popularity is popular, and we absorb consumers' voices and provide information to farmers as well.

Traditionally vegetables and the like were sold through wholesalers and retail stores, so the opportunities for consumers' voices to reach farmers directly were low. However, to the farmers participating in the eating choke, the voice of the consumer comes from direct communication with consumers, or through eating chokes. There are obvious reasons for getting words of gratitude, which often leads to improvement of motivation of farmers, and a stiffer voice leads to better production of vegetables.

Until now, farmers had no choice but to make a product out-like idea for vegetable making in terms of the distribution system. In other words, it is the situation of making and selling what you want to make. From now on, however, it is also important to think about marketing in what kind of vegetables and information consumers want. I would like to make a system that consumers' information can reach farmers using the mechanism of eating chokes.

Vegetables etc sold at eating chokes include not only general vegetables but also traditional vegetables (Kyoto vegetables, Miura radish etc). There are many local traditional vegetables and they are eaten as local cuisine, but there are few opportunities to line up in the supermarket outside, as the shape is special and the taste is habit. So the way of cooking has not penetrated in general and how to eat delicious is not known. Therefore cooking traditional vegetables requires communication with local farmers. Eating choku is originally a service that communicates directly with farmers, so it is suitable for selling traditional vegetables.

Also, since traditional vegetables can not be purchased at the supermarket, it is worth buying organic vegetables with eating chokes from consumers, even if it is included a little in the assortment. While there are orthodox vegetables, there are many consumers who like to have traditional vegetables adequately included.

We also offer customized subscription services

As mentioned at the beginning, the fact that the farmers' market is popular means that there is a need for organic vegetables. As of May, 2018, more than 100 farmers are participating in the eating choke, and vegetables are delivered to consumers who think "I want to eat fresh and safe vegetables". However, the situation that there are many listings has created the trouble of not being able to choose vegetables etc., on the contrary, not knowing which vegetables are the best for them.

So eating choku started in February 2018 was "Eating choke concierge". It is a subscription-type service where eating choku makes a vegetable remake when you register information on how much vegetables like rare vegetables such as vegetables you like and dislike vegetables and rare vegetables such as traditional vegetables are to be put in order-made delivery of organic vegetables.

Not only do vegetables customized to you reach from farmers but also vegetables that match their tastes reach more by returning feedback to the delivered vegetables. Some consumers become fans of the farmers from there, and there are things like nominated purchases from the next time.

Finally I heard about the future development of eating choku.

Already over 100 farmers have participated in eating chokes, but there must be 10,000 organic farmers that exceed our standards. So I am aiming for a market place where thousands of farmers can participate.

Currently we are dealing with primary products such as vegetables and fruits, but from now on we will also increase the number of processed items such as juice using organic apple, so that we are committed to the wider consumers and enjoying the products of the farmers I would like to make it available.

In the future, we plan to increase the opportunity to eat vegetables of eating chokes even in real places such as events inviting farmers of traditional vegetables and tie-up with restaurants. I can not try tasting online alone, so I'd like to solve the problems there.

Demand for organic vegetables and fruits will increase in the future. But supermarkets are hard to accept. However, if you eat organic vegetables directly from farmers, you can solve such problems. As the farmers and consumers communicate with each other, the distance between the farmers and consumers approaches, and the vegetables are more familiar to consumers. There are always consumers who increase the value of food by increasing the choices of food. I would like to expect that eating chokes will increase the number of farmers and consumers and that organic vegetables will increase in the future.

The contents of the interview are also distributed by podcast

We are delivering interviews at the podcast interview.

The latest information is LINE@!

We announce you in LINE@ at article delivery. If you would like to be notified of the update of the article, please follow LINE@!