{"id":3932,"date":"2015-08-06T13:54:06","date_gmt":"2015-08-06T13:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grains.org\/ltamex\/usgcaes-white-sorghum-promotion-makes-national-news-in-japan\/"},"modified":"2015-08-06T13:54:06","modified_gmt":"2015-08-06T13:54:06","slug":"usgcaes-white-sorghum-promotion-makes-national-news-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grains.org\/ltamex\/usgcaes-white-sorghum-promotion-makes-national-news-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"USGC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s White Sorghum Promotion Makes National News in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major Japanese network TV station aired an original story introducing U.S. white sorghum as a healthy grain to roughly 1 million consumers last month, a major milestone for the U.S. Grains Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s local multi-year promotion of the food ingredient.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is a great achievement for our food sorghum promotion program,\u00e2\u20ac\ufffd said USGC Director in Japan Tommy Hamamoto. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our office was contacted to contribute photos, video and information on U.S. sorghum, which clearly shows that we have become a respected source of information and have sparked the media\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interest in the benefits of sorghum to consumers.\u00e2\u20ac\ufffd<\/p>\n

The eight-minute story included scenes from a video produced by the United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP) featuring U.S. sorghum fields and harvest; Americans tasting sorghum dishes at a restaurant; and restaurant-goers enjoying sorghum dishes at the Hotel InterContinental Tokyo Bay.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153During the segment, the host emphasized repeatedly that U.S. white sorghum is an enhanced specialty grain that is safe, nutritious and easy to cook,\u00e2\u20ac\ufffd Hamamoto said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The story also illustrated that white sorghum has a greater nutritional value than pearled rice as it is higher in fiber, calcium and iron.\u00e2\u20ac\ufffd<\/p>\n

This large-scale promotion of U.S white sorghum to Japanese consumers will help them learn benefits of U.S. sorghum as a value-added food ingredient and, in turn, help create new demand for the product. <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This type of promotion is invaluable to the Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s efforts in Japan,\u00e2\u20ac\ufffd Hamamoto said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is especially true as increasing consumer awareness of the product may help build Japan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s food industry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interest in commercializing health-oriented food products made from U.S. white sorghum.\u00e2\u20ac\ufffd<\/p>\n

The Council in Japan has also been producing short YouTube videos featuring its efforts to promote U.S. sorghum for food uses.<\/span><\/p>\n