Besides Japanese snacks, ICHIGO also sells some lovely gifts

Hong Kong and Macau people mostly accept the taste of Japanese food, and Japanese snacks as well. ICHIGO, the first store of Japanese snacks, started its business only last June and quickly expanded. The first store of ICHIGO is located at Rua da Barca n.?40 A (GF), Macau. Its owners set a principle of serving varied goods and changing their goods according to the seasons as their selling point. After a few months, they opened a branch store in another location. Both stores are in middle class neighborhoods, which offer different categories of goods, such as drinks, chips, crackers, chocolate, candy, and even some lovely gifts. All the foods are made in Japan except for some toys.

How did the two youngsters have the idea to run a Japanese snack store? Patrick Loa, one of the owners of ICHIGO explained that they wanted to follow the successful example of the Japanese snack store "Okashi Land" from Hong Kong. Loa added, "We had experience of selling various kinds of snacks from different countries. We believe that people from Hong Kong and Macau are very interested in Japanese snacks, so we chose Japanese snacks as our selling products."

ICHIGO aims at a large group of customers from youngsters to families. Their customers are usually aged between 20-30. The average consumer spending is about MOP40 ~50 per time. Chim Song, another owner of ICHIGO indicated, "Based on the consumption culture in Macau, we set our goods prices under MOP20 per item. If the price is over MOP20, people mostly do not buy it." Song added, "The Japanese style is focusing on variety, speed and up-to-date. There are many kinds of seasonal snack products in Japan. We need to follow the circle of their production. Summer for example, is the season for making chocolate, crackers and other things that will be in high demand for the coming winter. As for winter, they will change to the production of things like chips and candy for the next summer. We need to import goods by seasons in order to keep our competitiveness."

Due to the popularity of Japanese food, a "copy mode" has appeared. Several Japanese snack stores opened this year. Song mentioned that the competition does not come from other Japanese snack stores but supermarkets. He said, "There are only a few stores set up in different regions in Macau. It won't be a menace for us but a popularization of Japanese snacks. However, supermarkets are our main competitors. They are all on a large scale and pulling prices down in order to eliminate their competitors. Our small-scale store can not follow their prices. That's why people may think that our prices are unreasonable."

Japanese snacks are known for their variety

Confronting this difficulty, ICHIGO owners still have confidence. Although many supermarkets also have a Japanese snack corner, they do not have every kind because they are not specialized in the snack business. For some goods that are also sold in supermarkets, such as chips and candy, ICHIGO will try its best to match their prices. Both ICHIGO owners had experience of importing Japanese snack goods before they started ICHIGO. They usually go to Japan searching for the goods themselves once every half a year in order to keep their goods updated and with varieties. It is because they are well aware that some imports from Hong Kong are not in high quality, and may be more expensive. Song said, "We are the first store of this kind. We learned many lessons before. Others may not have this experience to compete with us."

Mandy Wong, a youngster who loves Japanese snacks said, "I've got a habit to buy Japanese snacks once a week. I like to go to Japanese snack stores more than supermarkets since those small stores have everything from drinks to lovely gifts."

ICHIGO also has a membership plan. In the new season, customers can become a member of ICHIGO with a bill of over MOP100. All members can have a discount and will be informed when new items will arrive. The owners hope that this kind of promotion can attract more customers and make the Japanese snack market more popular.

ICHIGO is run by two youngsters. It opens from 12 a.m till 11:30 p.m. It generates a monthly business volume of MOP60, 000 ~70, 000.