Japanese ice cream

[Serenita]

Hi guys!

I am an english student and have been given a case study on the ice cream market in japan, As i know very little about this amazing country, I need your help !!! I have a few questions for you JF people...
Well first I would like to know how often do you think Japanese people eat ice cream and how much are they willing to spend on ice cream ?
Then could you tell me the favourite most famous japanese brands of high range ice cream ? Also do you think Japanese would rather have a light ice cream to a heavy creamy one ?

(And to finish can you find Ben and Jerry's ice cream in Japan anymore?)


Thank you so much in advance, much appreciated!!

[RobinMask]

Originally Posted by Serenita

Hi guys!

(And to finish can you find Ben and Jerry's ice cream in Japan anymore?)


Thank you so much in advance, much appreciated!!

Although I can't answer on the rest, I'm sure if you hit Ben and Jerry's website they'll have information on where they distrubute their products, or have a contact address to someone in the company you could ask.

[kyo_9]

Baskin Robbins Ice Cream product is very famous here..
Since summer season is approaching nearer, most of Japanese people will eat ice creams almost every day..

[sarasi]

The most popular high end icecream here is Haagen Dazs. The little cups are about 250 yen from convenience stores, but most icecreams are priced at 100-150 yen, and that is what most people are willing to pay.

As above, a lot of people would eat icecream almost every day in summer here because it's so hot. Others perhaps just on weekends.

People like both creamier icecreams and lighter ones- there is a huge range available here, with new versions/products constantly being introduced- it would be a very competitive market.

Oh, and I've never seen Ben and Jerry's in the 12 years I've lived here.

[Serenita]

Thanks a lot to you all for your replies ! They are very useful for my research.

Actually Ben and jerry's tried but didn't succeed because they had distribution issues and it was hard for them to compete with already established brands... What's more I think japan industrial structure of keiretsu is complicated and make it difficult for foreign firms to come to Japan.
So they were very briefly available at 7/11 stores but no one noticed apparently !
Is that true that Japanese people are very demanding in term of quality of the items they purchase ?

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by Serenita

Is that true that Japanese people are very demanding in term of quality of the items they purchase ?

I can't comment on ice cream but when it comes to perishable goods, supermarkets seem to be much stricter in Japan than in the west about moving on stock before it gets old. I've seen bacon for sale in the UK that was fairly turning green. That, generalizing from my experience, would not happen in Japan. People talk and they take reputation very seriously so if word is out that a product is bad, it will quite likely damage sales. Looks at Chinese gyoza. Producers in Japan are possibly more sensitive to this and take more measures to avoid upsetting the faith, so when someone does slip up it's bigger news than it might be in the West.

I would say that more than 'quality' as opposed to 'basic' then people in Japan don't like a bad deal; if they buy expensive 'quality' goods, they expect them to live up to that description. They will often buy cheaply as a matter of course, happily so, and not demand more than the price is worth, but they expect it to be fresh and safe to consume and that's an issue in which they can be (justifiably) uncompromising.

[legeisha]

japanese ice cream is exquisite!! i love the green tea ice cream they serve at sushi restaurants. green tea is my favourite. usually i find the mango ones they serve at this particular place to be too powdery for my liking. sesame ice cream i think is an acquired taste like sushi.

[KINGPIGGIE]

Is it true that japanese people think that they created farming, that English and Chinese languages are similar and that Japan is the only country in the world that has seasons?

One more thing what is your favourate ice cream?

Thank you very much

[Zandelin]

Hmm I dunno much about Japanese bran ice creme but I do enjoy the Mochi Green Tea ice creme I will admit its first time I've seen and tasted Ice Creme that is wrapped in riceflour. Hard to find sometimes here in the US gotta look in some near by Japanese novelty stores sometimes.

[samurai007]

If you are interested in ice cream in Japan, you must watch these:

YouTube - Life In Tokyo: Vlog #28 Ice Cream City Part 1

YouTube - Life In Tokyo: Vlog #28 Ice Cream City Part 2

To be honest, though, most places don't have crazy flavors like that, and green tea ice cream and vanilla are the most common.