Gogyofuku Co. Ltd.’s reflections on its work in receiving overseas participants – PREX Island Enterprise managers- PREX Island

Enterprise managers
I am YAMANAKA Kan of Gogyofuku Co. Ltd.

Dec. 2022, Participants from Kyrgyz with Gogyofuku Co. Ltd. President, Mr. YAMANAKA Kan Commissioning Organization: ReloExcel, Inc.

Contributing to the world through food safety

The world is connected through ‘delicacies’

I am YAMANAKA Kan of Gogyofuku Co. Ltd.
As a company specializing in rare delicacies and wanting to become a center for a positive spiral of producers and consumers in the food business, we created the ‘Gogyofuku Big Bang Plan’ in 2021.
‘World Peace’ is included in this plan.
At present, I doubt if I could say we are connected with the ‘world’ on the business front but, I feel we are connected with the world through these training courses, exchange and visits to each region.
Through food safety, ‘delicacies’ connect the world.
Uzbekistan is on the crossroads of the silk road, has many young people and is a country that will prosper in the future. It is a pro-Japan country, and it is unfortunate that business relations are not as developed as they could be. (There are 21 Japanese companies and over 110 Japanese people living in Uzbekistan.)
The food industry is an important industry in Uzbekistan. If industry, government and academia cooperate, and a quality and hygiene management mechanism is established, I believe development will be promoted. Though what we can do may be rather limited, I believe the know-how of small-to-medium size Japanese food companies will be of great use.

Visiting Uzbekistan, the home country of trainees accepted by Gogyofuku

I felt I wanted to be more familiar with the trainees our company accepts and have wondered what kind of country they are from and have wanted to visit the country to find out. In February 2023, I participated in the ‘Central Asia Government and Private Sector Mission’ sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and was able to visit Uzbekistan.
The timing was fortunate and I was able to reunite with participants already connected on Facebook and gave them some souvenirs I brought from Japan. My image of Uzbekistan was from the basket of nuts and dried fruits I received as a souvenir, however, I was surprised to find it a very cosmopolitan place.
Each morning in my Tashkent hotel room from 8:00am I linked up to the Wi-Fi and participated in company online meetings. The experience of COVID helped me to do work online.
After my participation in the mission had been decided, I checked the JICA and JETRO websites, contacted staff of the Uzbekistan Embassy in Japan and members who had participated in previous missions, and after actually taking part in the mission, I felt I knew more about Uzbekistan than anyone in Kobe. We are considering if the company (Gogyofuku) will use large Uzbekistan raisins as hors d’oeuvres and at present we are conducting a quality survey.

Thoughts on being a bridge for Japan-Kyrgyz friendship

With the aid of consecutive interpretation in Russian, 2 hours were spent in explaining Gogyofuku’s management, and after that, everyone went to observe the research center.
[Is there a successor to the company?]
[Do you have a marketing manager?]
[What kind of quality control system do you have?]
[What kind of processing rules do you have with cooperating factories?]
[Do you ask family members for their opinions on products?]
[What kind of process do you have for product planning?]
These are some of the questions that were asked. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to answer all the questions. A lot of interest was shown especially in management philosophy and efforts made for creating a good labor environment.

Mr. Damil MUZAFAROFF of the Uzbekistan-Japan Center

I was fortunate to meet Mr. YAMANAKA Kan, President of Gogyofuku, when the Japanese mission visited the Uzbekistan-Japan Center (UJC) on February 13, 2023. 5 years had passed since I had met Mr. YAMANAKA when I visited Gogyofuku Co. Ltd. in Kobe on a UJC business training course in Japan.
I clearly remember the warm welcome we, participants, received at Gogyofuku, Gogyofuku’s delicious delicacies, and the lectures on business management.
I have passed on what I learned there as well as the ideas I received to thousands of participants in the Uzbekistan business courses. I have also passed on what the driving power of Japanese business’ success is, as well as an understanding of Japanese business culture.
I am very grateful to meet Mr. YAMANAKA again and for him to visit the Uzbekistan-Japan Center.

Gogyofuku Co. Ltd.

Nagata-ku, Kobe City Production and sale of high-quality delicacies, 80 employees
FY 2022 received the Japan Quality Award [the Shōrei Prize], Hyogo Platinum Developing Business Award
From 2006, accepted participants from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz and Mongolia
Talks on business philosophy, morals, marketing, POP, etc. provided.

• Date : June 10, 2023
• Name : YAMANAKA Kan
• job name : Company President