OKYO, JAPAN – This week, USA Rice conducted a consumer event here in collaboration with Ryoritsushin, a popular food magazine. Approximately 60 Japanese consumers were introduced to U.S. medium grain at Toro Tokyo, celebrity chef Richard Sandoval’s hot Mexican and Latin American restaurant in the posh and exclusive Ginza District.
The event featured a discussion led by the magazine about the new popularity of Mexican cuisine in Japan, followed by a presentation on U.S. rice including its growing environment, exports, and unique sustainability story. Finally, Toro chef Ogawa explained to the crowd why U.S. medium grain works nicely for his Mexican menus, and that it is the only rice on the restaurant’s menu. He then conducted a cooking demonstration of his "Mexican Egg," incorporating U.S. medium grain rice.
Ms. Rachel Nelson, director of the U.S. Embassy Agricultural Trade Office here, offered a greeting and toast to the invited participants and partook of the many Mexican dishes, all of which were prepared with U.S.-grown rice.
Attendees completed a questionnaire at the event’s conclusion that showed 95 percent of the participants were satisfied with the event and almost 98 percent thought the menus using U.S. medium grain tasted good. Ninety-five percent of the participants liked the texture of U.S. medium grain.
“Simple first-person promotional events such as this one create a long-remembered positive image for our rice that is passed on by word-of-mouth to many others,” said USA Rice’s Bill Farmer who attended the event.