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’s local multi-year promotion of the food ingredient.

“This is a great achievement for our food sorghum promotion program,� said USGC Director in Japan Tommy Hamamoto. “Our 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’s interest in the benefits of sorghum to consumers.�

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.

“During the segment, the host emphasized repeatedly that U.S. white sorghum is an enhanced specialty grain that is safe, nutritious and easy to cook,� Hamamoto said. “The story also illustrated that white sorghum has a greater nutritional value than pearled rice as it is higher in fiber, calcium and iron.�

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.

“This type of promotion is invaluable to the Council’s efforts in Japan,� Hamamoto said. “This is especially true as increasing consumer awareness of the product may help build Japan’s food industry’s interest in commercializing health-oriented food products made from U.S. white sorghum.�

The Council in Japan has also been producing short YouTube videos featuring its efforts to promote U.S. sorghum for food uses.

The video of the sorghum tasting event and more are available on the Council in Japan’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEJJvSUD8zCkdXz89RyX8tA.