GREENCOLLAR Launches GOKU SHUN Craft Grape Brand
New Launch of GOKU SHUN URA-SHUN Creating New Grape Seasons
Promoting D2C Sales in Collaboration with Restaurants and Overseas Sales, and Establishing a New Farming Business Model

March 18, 2021
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.
GREENCOLLAR, Inc.
GREENCOLLAR NEWZEALAND LIMITED

GREENCOLLAR Inc., which produces table grapes year-round while traveling between the northern hemisphere (Japan) and southern hemisphere (New Zealand) where the seasons are opposite, will launch a craft grape brand called GOKU SHUN and start sales of GOKU SHUN URA-SHUN in March to create a new grape season. At the same time, GREENCOLLAR will collaborate with three restaurants in Japan to develop and provide original menus. Furthermore, restaurants’ business models are reaching a turning point amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and GREENCOLLAR has collaborated with them to introduce a new revenue-sharing model of D2C sales. GREENCOLLAR and the restaurants are collaborating to promote construction of a sustainable business model.

GREENCOLLAR aims to establish a new farming business model through these initiatives.

TOPIC 1
Released the GOKU SHUN brand of craft grapes. What is URA-SHUN, the other seasonal grape?

< What is GOKU SHUN? >

GOKU SHUN are grown in both the northern and southern hemispheres, in Japan’s Yamanashi Prefecture and the Hawke’s Bay district in New Zealand.
SHUN (the Japanese word for “season”) is written using the characters representing “day”and “wrap.” These grapes are bathed in plenty of sunlight and packed with deliciousness.
GOKU SHUN is a craft brand of Japanese grape born from the results of going to the extremes of the earth’s seasons.

< What is OMOTE-SHUN? >

Referred to as the Fruit Kingdom, Yamanashi Prefecture has long daylight hours, low volume of rainfall and proudly holds the position of being the number one location for grape shipment in Japan. The craft grapes raised in that soil during the peak season in Japan using skillful cultivation technology are called GOKU SHUN OMOTE-SHUN.

< What is URA-SHUN? >

New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay is a grape-producing area that has even more hours of daylight and a lower volume of rainfall than Yamanashi Prefecture. These craft-branded Japanese grapes are raised using skillful Japanese cultivation technology under this blessed environment with a secret technique that lets you experience their hidden deliciousness—hence the name URA-SHUN.

< GOKU SHUN URA-SHUN Varieties >

< Brand Tools >

Conventionally, grapes have generally been bought by choosing variety and production area. The GOKU SHUN grapes raised by GREENCOLLAR have been finely developed as a tool to express the brand with the desire for people to choose because they share the concept of the company and brand. Overall, they are designed to enable experiencing the craft strength of the grapes and the feel of farming. The product packaging is made so that a lid opens up to make the grapes appear like a treasure in a way that evokes a sense of opening something precious and to experience the joy of opening it. In addition, restaurant staff T-shirts are made with a thick fabric to make them appear like a farmer’s work clothes and blended with an urban silhouette to inspire pride in farming.

< GOKU SHUN website / Instagram >

GOKU SHUN website: https://gokushun.com (Japanese)
Instagram account: @goku.shun https://www.instagram.com/goku.shun/

TOPIC 2
GOKU SHUN and popular restaurants launch collaborative menus. Will launch demonstrative trials of a revenue-sharing model for D2C sales with restaurants, which are at a turning point due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

GREENCOLLAR will collaborate with three popular restaurants in Japan to develop and provide original menus using GOKU SHUN and URA-SHUN. Customers will be able to enjoy items such as fruit cake or fruit-based sour beverage using GOKU SHUN, URA-SHUN, VIOLET KING or KYOHO grapes delivered from New Zealand, where the seasons are opposite from Japan.

< D2C Sales of GOKU SHUN through Revenue Share Model with Restaurants >

GERENCOLLAR will develop original menus and provide the unique content of GOKU SHUN and URA-SHUN to restaurants. When the restaurants provide customers with the original menus, they will also explain the appeal of GOKU SHUN and URA-SHUN, and encourage them to visit the GOKU SHUN online store. When restaurant customers use the GOKU SHUN online store, GREENCOLLAR will give part of the sales back to the restaurants.
At a time when restaurant business models have reached a turning point due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GREENCOLLAR positions restaurants as an important contact point for customers and contributes to building a new earnings model for restaurants.
Going forward, GREENCOLLAR will continue to seek collaborators that identify with the GREENCOLLAR business and GOKU SHUN concept.

< Collaboration with Restaurants >

1. CAFE SANS NOM AKASAKA (Address: 6-16-4 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo) https://cafesansnom.net/
2. THE MARKET Sour Lab.(Address: Inside TUGBOAT_TAISHO food hall, 1-14 Sangenyanishi 1-Chome, Taisho-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture) https://tugboat-taisho.jp/food/306/ (Japanese)
3. LAUMELIA (Address: Adjoining the Mercedes-Benz Urayasu showroom, 7-5 Hinode 5-Chome, Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture) http://www.laumelia.jp/ (Japanese)

(1)CAFE SANS NOM AKASAKA

CAFE SANS NOM AKASAKA, a restaurant in Tokyo’s Akasaka district where the coffee and cheesecake are delicious That is “the café with no name.”Stay while having coffee, having a drink, listening to music, or reading. Sometimes, it’s a café. Sometimes, it’s a bar. Enjoy a quiet, relaxing time.

(2)THE MARKET Sour Lab.

THE MARKET Sour Lab. is a restaurant specializing in sour beverages to connect farmers and customers. People can enjoy the chemical reaction of fruits meeting sour beverages made with finely selected seasonal Japanese fruits. Farmers deliver the fruits directly, making them the epitome of freshness. Seasonal fruits are used at the peak of their ripeness.

(3)LAUMELIA

Providing cuisine with an original blend of coffee and paying meticulous attention to ingredients. In the bright, open restaurant, savor a feeling of elegance as though visiting a resort while fully enjoying the charms of the Mercedes-Benz showroom. This luxurious experience can only be experienced here.

TOPIC 3
GOKU SHUN Sales in Singapore and China through collaboration with NIHON AGRI

As a second collaboration with NIHON AGRI, trial sales of GOKU SHUN and URA-SHUN grapes started in Singapore and China to raise awareness of GOKU SHUN overseas and enhance the value of Japanese crop varieties.
In China, sales are planned for a regional high-end supermarket, while in Singapore, the grapes will be sold at the Isetan Scotts store (350 Orchard Road, Shaw House, Singapore 238868).
These trial sales will gauge the potential of GOKU SHUN and URA-SHUN in various countries and help to enhance the value of Japanese crop varieties.

■GREENCOLLAR

GREENCOLLAR advances business for large-scale production of high-quality table grapes of a Japanese variety such as Shine Muscat in the northern hemisphere (Japan) and the southern hemisphere (New Zealand), where seasons are opposite, to sell seasonal grapes around the world throughout the year. This business seeks to create a new farming lifestyle for the coming age that is neither white collar nor blue collar, but “Living in a more human way with nature = ‘Green Collar,’”and aims to be a globally unique company producing table grapes.
By producing table grapes while traveling between the northern hemisphere (Japan) and southern hemisphere (New Zealand) where the seasons are opposite, GREENCOLLAR enhances productivity, enables technological improvements and aims for sustainable business growth through overseas sales and D2C sales in collaboration with restaurants.
GREENCOLLAR will contribute to the sustainable development of Japanese farming by creating a new style of farming.

■Company overview

■ The Mitsui Fudosan Group’s business proposal system, MAG!C

This system was created during fiscal 2018 to reboot the Mitsui Fudosan Group’s DNA of Innovation and for the Companywide promotion to innovate the real estate business.
In principle, those who propose a business are given responsibility for it to move ahead.

■ Mitsui Fudosan Group’s Contribution to SDGs

https://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/english/corporate/esg_csr/
The Mitsui Fudosan Group aims for a society that enriches both people and the planet under the principles of coexistence in harmony with society, link diverse values and achieve a sustainable society, and advances business with an awareness of the environment (E), society (S) and governance (G), thus promoting ESG management. By further accelerating its ESG management, the Group will realize Society 5.0, which the Japanese government has been advocating, and contribute significantly to achieving the SDGs.
* The initiatives covered in this press release are contributing to three of the UN’s SDGs.