Since the 1990s, the volume of fresh broccoli imported from the United States has been fluctuating. Taking the initiative by the Hanzawa Agricultural Cooperative (JA Hanzawa) overseeing the Hanzawa District in Fukaya City (formerly Okabe Town) in Saitama Prefecture as an example, the study uncovered the kinds of production and distribution systems developed by the domestic broccoli production areas that have maintained their production scale under such circumstances.
Led by JA Hanzawa, the district has been trying to automate broccoli cultivation, including developing new varieties, sowing, and planting, since the late 1970s. Hence, from the 1980s to the early 1990s, broccoli acreage in this district has increased. In addition, they have built systems for planned production and distribution by introducing a shipment declaration system to adjust the volume of broccoli to be kept fresh by vacuum precooling and to be shipped, as well as by striving to establish their brand. Since the 1990s, they have been making limited-time, advance sales to counter the increase in imported broccoli. Whereas broccoli acreage throughout Japan increased in response to the decreased volume of broccoli imported from the United States in the early 2000s, broccoli acreage in this district barely increased owing to farmers' restrictions related to manpower allocation and agricultural land ownership. Instead, they worked on maintaining the shipping volume and improving the quality during the 2000s by launching a traceability program, obtaining the Eco-Farmer designation, and so on. In recent years, they have narrowed down the number of markets to ship to and have begun shipping in a large volume mainly to the Keihin market, which is a large consumption area. As described, JA Hanzawa and their cooperative sales organization are sustaining their production areas through developing their business based on the volume fluctuation of imported broccoli as well as the situation in the production area.

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