Building Regional Circulation of Organic Produce to Foster Sustainable Agriculture

Sakanotochu Inc. (Headquarters: Kyoto City, Minami Ward, Representative Director: Kunihiko Ono) is strengthening the systems for regional circulation and sales channels of produce grown with organic farming in collaboration with municipalities, NPOs, and producer groups. By utilizing "farmO," a web service for farmers operated by our company, and by running joint logistics, we aim to solve the distribution challenges faced by small-scale organic farmers and promote agriculture with a small environmental footprint.

Kyoto Organic Action (KOA)'s "Joint Logistics Service"

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has formulated the "Green Food System Strategy" to establish food security that is not affected by unstable international situations or climate change, and has set a goal of expanding the area under organic farming to 25% (1 million hectares) by 2050.

However, many producers engaged in organic farming are small-scale, and their production tends to be small in quantity and unstable, making it difficult to incorporate into existing distribution channels such as agricultural cooperatives and wholesale markets. Only about 20% of organic agricultural products pass through these channels*1, posing challenges in establishing sales channels. Furthermore, energy supply anxieties due to the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East, and soaring prices of materials and gasoline, place a significant burden on individual producers and buyers who handle separate collections and deliveries.

Sakanotochu is working to establish a sustainable agricultural model by building an efficient distribution network within regions, enabling producers engaged in organic farming to secure sales channels even under these circumstances.

*1 Toru Sakai. (2022). "Structure and Scale of the Organic Agricultural and Food Product Market in Japan." Edited by Toshio Oyama, "Structural Analysis of the Organic Food Market," Nosan Gyoson Bunka Kyokai, pp. 86-147.

Specific Examples

1. Kyoto Organic Action (KOA)'s "Joint Logistics Service"*2

To address rising logistics costs and increased burdens of collection, this joint logistics project was launched in 2017 by several greengrocers in Kyoto City and organic farmers in northern and central Kyoto Prefecture. It utilizes farmO's collection list function to consolidate order information within the group, thereby improving the efficiency of logistics and order reception/placement operations.

URL: https://kyotoorganicaction.com/delivery

*2 This project utilizes KOA's own delivery system based on purchasing and sales, rather than outsourcing transportation services.

2. Yabu City, Hyogo Prefecture: Streamlining Supply and Demand Adjustment for School Lunches

The biggest hurdles in introducing organically grown produce into school lunches are the stable supply of raw materials and the fine-tuning of demand and supply. In Yabu City, in collaboration with NPO Earth Family, which aggregates demand from schools, "farmO" was introduced in 2025. By visualizing the shipping capacity of producers, smooth order management has been realized, making it easier to incorporate local vegetables into school lunches.

URL: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000052.000041621.html

3. Uda City, Nara Prefecture: Joint Collection with Ruinoen

Ruinoen has built its own distribution network by establishing direct sales stores as a link between urban and rural areas, in addition to operating its own organic farms. Sakanotochu has steadily increased its partner producers with the expansion of EC and wholesale sales, but efficient collection remained a challenge. Therefore, in 2023, a joint charter service began operating in areas where both companies' delivery networks overlap. This streamlining has led to reduced logistics costs and a decrease in fossil fuel consumption.

About farmO

farmO is a web service that supports order management and sales channel development for producers and groups engaged in organic farming. Over 900 producers nationwide are registered, and it offers functions such as streamlining order reception/placement and supporting the creation of grading and shipping records. Group use allows for order allocation and management, reducing the often cumbersome administrative tasks.

By utilizing this system, we consolidate orders between producers and buyers within a region and operate joint logistics and collection services by issuing daily collection lists.

URL: https://www.farm-o.net/start

About Sakanotochu Inc.

Sakanotochu Inc. aims to promote agriculture with a small environmental footprint. We are working to rebuild sustainable value chains by partnering with new farmers in Japan and coffee producers overseas. We have established a system where even small and unstable production can be sold at appropriate prices if the quality is high, and we sell agricultural products grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, as well as coffee grown through agroforestry*.

*Agroforestry refers to planting trees and managing forests while raising livestock and cultivating crops on the land in between.

Representative: Kunihiko Ono

Head Office Location: 56 Kamitoba Takahata-cho, Minami-ku, Kyoto City

Date of Establishment: July 21, 2009

Company URL: https://www.on-the-slope.com/corporate