Continuing the theme of poisoned Chinese dumpling incidence in Japan, I found it fascinating that among the contaminated products were the PB (Private Brand) products for the consortium of the Japanese consumer cooperatives. Their frozen food products from Chinese dumplings, beef curry, to pork buns were made in China and have been found contaminated to various degrees.
In the process of investigation of the poisoned dumplings, what was revealed to consumers was not only that the co-op’s PB products were made in China, but also they were often exactly the same thing as the products by other food giants such as Japan Tobacco (side note- It is quite interesting to note the parallel in the US- the tobacco companies and food processing in the case of Philip Morris and Kraft Foods).
The reaction from consumers has been pretty powerful. There have been stories of angry co-op members who insisted on returning all the frozen foods to the co-op regardless of whether they were recalled or not. Media has been reporting the reaction to the co-ops and the co-op’s responses everyday. Consumers’ sense of betrayal is particularly strong, I think, as the co-op products were marketed precisely on what was undermined in this dumpling incidence—its ability to monitor and assure food safety.
Behind the Chinese dumpling was a paradox of Japanese consumer co-ops today. They have been subject to intense economic competition from regular supermarkets, and in their effort to survive, they have sought to become like conventional supermarket chains. Japanese co-ops are technically only active in a particular region, but in order to seek the economy of scale, many of them have formed regional alliance in manufacturing and marketing products. In addition, although the primary way of activism changed. Co-ops used to revolve around group activities in which members form a neighborhood group and they order produce collectively. The philosophy behind that was that communal sharing and awareness raising. But now many members are not in a group and a growing number of members rely on individual delivery of food to their house, forgoing any interaction with other members. Another example of supermarketization is marketing “Co-op” PB brands. And in order to survive in fierce competition against regular retailers, then, they had to resort to Chinese products in order to cut costs.
Now that many co-ops are struggling to restore consumer confidence in their brand. Some have announced that they would stop selling all made-in-China frozen products. The identity of co-ops have long been challenged, but this incidence has a particularly powerful ramification.
