関わる人を増やす「旗印」から発信スタート

We have been curious about Hokkaido sweet potatoes for a while. The production of various "delicious foods," including rice, peanuts, and wine grapes has been "shifting northwards" due to global warming. Of course, the environment is not the only factor. The efforts of researchers and pioneering producers: in other words, challengers, are essential. It’s frustrating when they manage to create something, but it doesn’t taste good. They are devoting themselves to study every day in order to overcome such challenges.

A team from the NOASTEC Foundation has launched a project to connect and activate all kinds of businesses that might be related to sweet potatoes. This includes manufacturing, processing, confectionery production, sales, and more. Particularly interesting are businesses that utilize a technology known as curing. Sweet potatoes need to be ripened in warehouses to sweeten and undergo saccharification. It is also important to have primary processing businesses which clean and cut the sweet potatoes, which are of different sizes and have their roots still attached, into easy-to-use pieces. This kind of networking can be said to be the lifeblood of the first year of this project. We back up the branding of the project itself with a statement, a logo, and a design.

A project that involves many stakeholders requires a "flag" and sympathetic "thoughts,” which bring everyone together. Sweet potatoes are enjoying a boom across the country, partly due to the introduction of "baked sweet potato machines.” There is not enough information value in the words "sweet potatoes from Hokkaido" alone. The challenge lies in what kind of products can be created and how they can be made delicious for people to enjoy. This truly embodies the spirit of "The Land of Trial."