PROCESS
We work in four stages. You can start from any stage.
01
Market research
We look into supply and demand, the competitive landscape, and consumers to see whether there is room for your product. Interviews with Indians visiting Japan and Indians living in India tell us how a product is received in ways the numbers alone do not show.
Main activities
Research on supply and demandWhat you learn at this stage
Whether there is room to enter, how large the gap with competitors is, and which wording resonates02
Strategy development
Based on the research findings, we decide the cities to enter, the price range, and the awareness and sales channels. Exhibiting at a trade show also lets us feed buyer reactions back into the strategy.
Main activities
Creating the product strategy and the sales strategyWhat is decided at this stage
Which city to enter first, through which channel, and at what price to sell03
Business launch
We find local partners and move ahead with obtaining licenses and launching an e-commerce site and Instagram. Test sales at tasting events and pop-ups let you gauge the response before investing in earnest.
Main activities
Finding local partnersWhat you gain at this stage
Buyer reactions, candidate trading partners, and the importer's license and the documents needed to sell04
Full-scale rollout
On contracts with partners, we work alongside you through to settling the terms. We also help with setting up a local entity and hiring local staff. We established our Indian entity in Gurugram in 2025, and our members have handled local hiring and training at restaurants in India.
Main activities
Support for contracts with local partnersWhat is in place at this stage
A contracted partner, a local entity, and local staffCOST
The amount varies with what you ask for. Before quoting, we explain what determines it.
01
The stage you request
You can ask for research alone, or a tasting event alone. We quote stage by stage.
02
How wide the scope is
It varies with the number of cities, the number of products, and the number of meetings and venues.
03
Out-of-pocket costs
Venue fees, sample shipping, license application fees, and transport and lodging for market visits are charged at cost.
04
What determines the timeline
What drives the timeline is the product category. Milk and dairy, meat and meat products (including poultry, fish, and seafood), egg powder, infant food, and nutraceuticals. These first require the procedure for registering the Japanese manufacturing facility with FSSAI (ReFoM), so they take that much longer.
HOW TO START
1
Free consultation
We ask about your industry, your products, and your goals for entering the market.
2
Proposal
We set out in writing the first stage to work on, the local counterparts you can meet at that stage, and a breakdown of the costs.
3
Contract
You can contract stage by stage. Requests for research alone or a tasting event alone are also possible.
4
Started
A contact in Kyoto serves as your point of contact, and our members in Gurugram work on the ground.
FAQ
You can. We handle the search for partners on the ground and set up the buyer meetings, and the trading terms are decided only after you have confirmed them.
You can try small. Tasting events, test sales at pop-ups, and trade show exhibits let you confirm how buyers respond first.
Food and beverage, anime and character IP, and apparel and materials. For restaurants and cafés, we draw on our members' business experience in India and on our partners.
You can import without an entity. The first thing we decide is who the importer will be. For food, we choose a local importer that handles Japanese ingredients. For details, see the import and licensing page.
We act on your behalf from meetings through to preparing the import documents. That covers meetings on the ground, buyer meetings, license application procedures, and preparation of import documents. Concluding contracts, deciding the trading terms, receiving payment, and owning the goods are done by you or by the local importer. We do not buy the goods, and we do not become the seller.
Research alone or a tasting event alone is fine. You can contract stage by stage.
SOJAPAN
We support Japanese companies entering India, from market research through local partner development, test sales, and import.