KonaRed looks to Pacific neighbour for new coffee fruit market

The company has signed with Asplund as its distributor to move into a first overseas market for its Hawaiian Coffeeberry line. The move follows approval for the Japanese market by the country’s health regulatory authority.

Produced under licence by VDF FutureCeuticals, KonaRed CoffeeBerry will be directed towards Japan’s legion of nutraceutical early adopters.
"Hawaii and Japan share many close ties: there is a strong cultural connection, our cuisine here has a strong Japanese influence, and a significant portion of the population is of Japanese descent,” said Shaun Roberts, KonaRed’s chief executive.

“Because of these factors, as well as the Japanese priority of living healthy lifestyles, we expect the Japanese market to embrace our products and flavour profile.”
Roberts admits the company is eyeing significant return on its investment in the its East Asian market.

“We see our strategic expansion there as a powerful revenue generator. I'm proud of my team's very hard work to enter this new market. It is a natural fit for a Hawaiian company; we share much with our neighbouring island to the west​."

According to Research and Markets, the Asia-Pacific nutraceuticals market will grow at an annual rate of 7.0% until 2019 due to increasing consumer concerns regarding health and nutrition there.

Japan is the region’s biggest nutraceuticals market, with a market share worth 28.48%, followed by China.