The European Union's Tastes of Europe Restaurant Week: One full week to discover a variety of dishes prepared with high-quality products from all over Europe at various Tokyo restaurants

EU News 456/2013

Brussels / Tokyo
October 29 2013

In the context of the two-day official visit next month of European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Cioloş and a mission of 31 business delegates representing high-quality products from all over Europe, the European Union (EU) will host several activities in Japan as part of its Tastes of Europe campaign.

The campaign aims to raise awareness among Japanese consumers of a variety of high-quality European foods and beverages that carry the European quality labels, encouraging them to experience delicacies in their daily cuisine. There are four quality labels that can easily be identified on the product packaging and which identify products linked to their geographical origin, as well as organic products.

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Consumers can already find some quality products in Japanese supermarkets, but this upcoming official visit and campaign will provide them with the opportunity to learn more about and to sample a range of sweet and savoury delights. From Monday, 11 November until Sunday, 17 November 2013, 10 restaurants in Tokyo will host the Tastes of Europe Restaurant Week. In cooperation with Gurunavi (http://www.gnavi.co.jp), the EU will collaborate with Japanese restaurants to give Japanese consumers the opportunity to try dishes using very special and unique European products carrying the quality labels in their own city. Also participating, is the prestigious Crown restaurant, located at the Palace Hotel Tokyo. At Crown, consumers can enjoy the special menus until 20 November 2013.

Japanese television personality Kaori Manabe will participate in a dedicated programme on the Tastes of Europe aired on Foodies TV. The public will be able to discover quality European food, learn how to prepare recipes with a European twist and understand how to make the best use of high-quality European agricultural food products and beverages.

As part of the campaign, the EU has initiated a partnership with the world-famous Culinary Institute Le Cordon Blue Tokyo, with the aim of educating the next generations of chefs. The students will be encouraged to participate in various activities to explore these unique and authentic products, including recipe competitions and lectures.

On a more business-oriented note, Japanese food professionals are invited to attend a seminar where European speakers will present the EU’s quality schemes for foodstuffs, wines and spirits and discuss the added value these labels can give to a product upon its commercialisation. The seminar will take place on 11 November in Tokyo.

For further information on the official visit and campaign activities, please contact: agri@asahi-ag.co.jp

Full Press Release, List of European Producers visiting Japan and Draft Programme (PDF)

これらのマークは厳格な規定に基づいて生産された本物の製品であることを保証するものです。 The labels guarantee that the product is of genuine quality and produced according to rigorous specifications. URL

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