TOO International

🍸 I am pleased to share recent results for Unicum, Hungary's iconic herbal liqueur, as it steadily gains traction in the Japanese market. A couple of years ago, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated importer, Kokubu, and the support of our team at TOO International, Unicum secured placement in the liquor section at BicCamera, one of Japan's leading mass merchandisers. Today, both sizes of the classic version are listed, and the brand has recently captured the attention of BicCamera's buyers at the corporate level, giving us hope for additional opportunities moving forward. Looking ahead, the local team is focused on enhancing in-store visibility to sustain Unicum’s growth momentum. 📈 _______ 🔔 Follow me to discover how business localization can benefit your F&B business in Japan. 🇯🇵 Marton Lendvai, MBA TOO International _______ #businessdevelopment #foodandbeverage #japan

Here’s how we built an engaging community for an imported liquor brand in Japan 🍸🇯🇵 At TOO International, we created and managed the official Instagram account for Unicum, a Hungarian herb liquor with over 230 years of history. A small but engaged community can make a huge impact! Our members include hundreds of bartenders, experts, and enthusiasts. Many of them contributing by new cocktail creations, photos with consumers and more on a continuous basis. 👉 Here are 6 strategies we used to build this supportive community: 𝟭. 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Localizing your brand is more than just translating materials. Finding the right audience and niche for your brand is key. - For Unicum, we focused on Japan’s highball culture and the sophisticated cocktail bar scene. - We also created food pairings with locally popular dishes. 𝟮. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀 Working with local ambassadors connects you to new audiences. - Unicum has three brand ambassadors, including one of Japan’s top cocktail specialists, who is also a herb expert. 𝟯. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Showcasing members’ efforts keeps them motivated and engaged. - We have encouraged Unicum’s fans to share their creations, that were featured on the official Instagram account. 𝟰. 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 & 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Balancing both online and offline engagement connects the audience with the physical products and strengthens your community. - Seasonal campaigns and special events have successfully attracted new followers and sparked interest in the brand. 𝟱. 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Collaborating with distributors, bars, ambassadors, and fans helps expand your reach. - Partnerships with bars and fans have been key to growing Unicum’s audience in Japan. 𝟲. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 High interaction rates strengthen your brand and distribution efforts. - Our online and offline campaigns encouraged interactions, leading to high engagement. ✨ Unicum is now available in numerous cocktail bars and hundreds of shops across Japan. Our ambassadors, professionals, and fans have helped boost visibility, build brand recognition, and drive local distribution growth. _______ 🔔 Follow me to discover how business localization can benefit your F&B business in Japan. 🇯🇵 _______ #businessdevelopment #foodandbeverage #japan

Even a small community can make a big impact. In Japan, this 230-year-old imported liquor brand is now available in a growing number of sales channels, numerous cocktail bars, and hundreds of shops nationwide, catching more attention from buyers and gaining buzz among bartenders. 👉 Here is how our localized Instagram activity has helped 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐦's growth in Japan 🇯🇵: 𝟏. 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨 Our engagement rate has been between 2-16%, which is much higher than the typical average of 0.5% on Instagram business account posts. 𝟐. 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 There are frequent and high-quality posts from users showcasing their own creations. We also have a high ratio of professionals who actively educate others about the brand and the products. They have even created new local hashtags! 𝟑. 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫 Our distributor often uses our content as a reference or an addition to their sales materials. It helps explain the brand and showcase locally adapted ways of enjoying the products. As a result, we've been receiving constant positive feedback from our distributor, stating that our content has helped them close their negotiation process. The support of our community of ambassadors, professional users, and fans significantly enhances brand visibility and recognition, thereby helping us at TOO International build awareness and drive growth for the brands we work with. #businessdevelopment #foodandbeverage #japan

🌟 Behind the Scenes at TOO International! 🌟 Our team, including an Italian cuisine specialist, a sommelier, a food writer, and a photographer, is gearing up for the next step with PASTA BERRUTO SPA. Stay tuned for more updates! #italian #japan #businessdevelopment

𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 are a great way to 1️⃣ receive direct feedback from consumers about your brand and products,  2️⃣ create content to engage with your community,  3️⃣ promote your products through on-site purchase opportunities, and  4️⃣ support sales in your distribution channels. 🧀 This month, swissmooh Japan's team at TOO International organized one such event for mooh cooperative's 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐡 cheeses. 🙏 We are immensely grateful to our brand ambassadors for 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐡 cheeses, Ms. Murase and Mr. Kaneko (金子敏春) for making this possible and relentlessly supporting our local promotion activities. _______ Follow me and click the 🔔 to get more insights on F&B localization in Japan. 🇯🇵 Marton TOO International _______ #businessdevelopment #foodandbeverage #japan

We have entered 𝟏𝟎+ 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 with mooh cooperative's 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐡 cheese in the past few months in Japan. 🇨🇭🧀🇯🇵 🎉 Big shout out to our import partner, K.K. Progress! Most of these retailers are premium supermarket chains that align with the high quality of specialty Swiss cheese products. They include prestigious store chains such as - 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐤𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐲𝐚, - 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐧, - 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐧 & 𝐃𝐞𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐚, and more. The autumn-winter season ends in March, and this period is regarded as the primary season for cheese products in Japan. Therefore, April provides an excellent opportunity to look back on the progress made with our importer over the past six months. During this period, regular distribution has been established for three types of products in Japan through our cheese specialty distribution partner. 📈 While summer is typically slower for cheese sales, there appears to be a recent uptick in demand, particularly for natural cheeses, as they are increasingly preferred over processed cheese products for their health benefits. 🗓️ In the Japanese retail industry, seasonality plays a crucial role, and retailers typically start planning their autumn-winter offerings six months in advance. It is the time to plan to maintain and grow the business in the following season. Our team at TOO International is excited about the next steps with our import partner for 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐡 cheese in Japan. 🇯🇵 _______ Marton #japan #foodandbeverage #businessdevelopment