ATLANTA – The Honey Baked Ham Company LLC has gone Far East. The company plans to open its first international store in Tokyo by the end of July.
Toranomon Ham Co. Ltd. holds the rights to sell Honey Baked Hams, turkeys, sides and desserts. Toranomon has been supplying Honey Baked products to high-end hotels and restaurants and online in Japan since 2013.
A market research survey by Shokuniku Co. Ltd. found that more than 35 percent of consumers in Japan purchase ham at least once a week by the slice or for use in salads and sandwiches.
“There is a great demand in the Japanese market for premium American brands and HoneyBaked fills a market niche with its unique glazed and spiral-sliced hams,” added Paul Kraft, president and representative director of Toranomon Ham. “Our goal is to continue to introduce HoneyBaked in a locally relevant way with the establishment of a Tokyo retail store.”
Honey Baked Ham said a storefront in Japan was always in the plan for the company.
“Paul Kraft and Nobumitsu Tamai are strong, experienced partners and have exceeded expectations in introducing our product to the culture and consumers of Japan over the past two years,” said Dave Keil, HoneyBaked CEO. “With their extensive consumer knowledge and operational expertise, we are very excited to bring HoneyBaked’s premium products and family traditions to consumers in Japan via our first retail location.”
