From April 15 to 17, 2026, the three-day B2B food trade show Premium Food Show 2026 was held at Tokyo Big Sight.
This exhibition focuses on themes such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, and halal. This year again, it was held jointly with FABEX 2026, one of Japan’s largest trade shows for prepared foods and foodservice, along with other food-related exhibitions. A total of 56,685 visitors attended.
At this exhibition, VegeProject Japan co-organized VEG FOOD EXPO, a vegan food and ingredient area, as a joint project with the show office. We also held a business seminar with a director involved in NHK program production. The seminar introduced practical skills for promoting vegan products.
VegeProject Japan co-organized VEG FOOD EXPO
In the VEG FOOD EXPO area, we introduced vegan products together with 12 businesses. These included companies offering products that have obtained our organization’s vegan certification.
The area featured displays and tastings of many kinds of vegan products. These included plant-based meat and seafood, cheese, mycoprotein, commercial ramen soup, hemp products, and frozen foods.
Seminar on communication that builds empathy
On April 17, our representative Haruko Kawano and NHK director Takahiro Shirakawa gave a seminar titled: “How to Make Your Products Resonate: Communication Techniques from a Vegan Expert and a TV Director”.
Mr. Shirakawa produced the NHK General TV feature aired in October 2025 on Afternoon LIVE News Soon, titled “Food Inclusivity: From Vegan to Food Allergies”. The feature introduced a local event held with the cooperation of our organization to encourage vegan options in the region. It also featured ingredients that had obtained our vegan certification. An article introducing details of the feature can be found here.
During the seminar, Mr. Shirakawa drew on actual reporting examples. He explained what kind of information businesses should share and how they should present it in order to attract media interest.
Supporting new connections through VEG FOOD EXPO
Through VEG FOOD EXPO, new connections were created between businesses handling vegan products and restaurants and accommodation facilities considering menu development. The event also created opportunities to connect with buyers considering carrying vegan products.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the exhibition office staff who worked with us to create this area, the businesses that exhibited in the area, and everyone who visited the booths and seminar.
Companies exhibiting at VEG FOOD EXPO (in Japanese alphabetical order)
・iVegi Co., Ltd.: tempeh products, various vegan sweets such as cookies and gummies
・Agroludens Co., Ltd.: mycoprotein made from rice and koji, syrup made from rice, and retort foods using those ingredients
・Karuna Co., Ltd.: vegan meat, plant-based shrimp and squid
・Saniku Foods Co., Ltd.: plant-based white sauce and meat sauce, taco meat, vegan ham and corned beef, and other vegan meats
・Acrobio Healthcare Inc.: plant-based protein drinks, plant-based multivitamins, honeysuckle tea, coffee
・TOROS LLC: Turkish products including lemonade
・Hamaya Katsuobushi Co., Ltd.: plant-based all-purpose soup base and white dashi
・Maruzen Food Industry Co., Ltd.: commercial ramen soups (tonkotsu-style, soy sauce, tantan-men)
・Mise Shoji Co., Ltd.: various frozen foods including organic frozen foods
・Yamagataya Shouten Co., Ltd.: Sendai-fu (abura-fu)
・Rokko Butter Co., Ltd.: various plant-based cheeses
・Hemp Foods Japan Co., Ltd.: hemp seeds, hemp protein, domestically produced hemp charcoal powder
