The Development of a Nationwide Brand of a Traditional Agricultural Product: The Case of Tambaguro in Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture

Abstract

While scholars have proposed since the late 1970s that native varieties of crops should be preserved, in recent decades, so-called traditional agricultural products have been brought to the public’s attention in Japan as a means of local development. The rationale was that this development could be realized by forming key production districts for brand products. The purpose of this study is to reveal the process of developing an agricultural brand of Tambaguro, a traditional black soybean, in Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan; as such, this is a case study of the formation of an agricultural brand in Japan. In particular, this study focuses on innovation in the Tambaguro supply system, as well as relationships between farmers and wholesalers. Tambaguro production in Sasayama began to expand around 1980, when the Japanese government enforced a reduction of rice acreage; since then, nationwide consumption of Tambaguro has been promoted by agricultural cooperatives, wholesalers, and mass media. In the late 1990s, new production districts appeared, mainly in the western part of Japan; this forced farmers and wholesalers in Sasayama to maintain their product superiority by authenticating their brand. Their competitive strategy led to both conflict and coordination between wholesalers and farmers: wholesalers made much of shipping Tambaguro earlier than other production districts and farmers, and the farmers were forced to spend much time harvesting Tambaguro. Thus, the development of a nationwide Tambaguro brand involved the following processes: the promotion of consumption, the maintenance of product superiority, and the coexistence of high product quality and early shipping times.