Announcement of Commencement of Discussions for Collaboration with Hyogo Rokko Agricultural Cooperative (Hyogo Prefecture)

Komeri Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Yuichiro Sasa, hereinafter "Komeri") is pleased to announce that it has commenced concrete discussions for collaboration with Hyogo Rokko Agricultural Cooperative (Head office: Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Katsuharu Hirao, hereinafter "JA Hyogo Rokko"). As a result, the number of agricultural cooperatives with which Komeri is collaborating is now 8, and the number of agricultural cooperatives with which Komeri is in discussion is 3 (Okinawa Prefectural Agricultural Cooperative, Kita-Biwako Agricultural Cooperative, Hyogo Rokko Agricultural Cooperative).

1. Reason for commencing discussions
Komeri utilizes its network of 1,234 stores in 46 prefectures (as of March 31, 2026) to improve convenience for farmers and promote agriculture, and strives to fulfill its role as an infrastructure for the work and lives of people in the areas where it operates.

The environment surrounding food, agriculture, and rural areas is severe, facing many challenges such as changes in suitable cultivation areas due to climate change, an increase in natural disasters, an aging agricultural workforce and a shortage of successors, damage to crops by wild animals, and soaring prices of production materials.

This time, by effectively utilizing the management resources of Komeri and JA Hyogo Rokko, we have determined that it is possible to further improve convenience for farmers and improve profitability for both, and to create synergies in improving agricultural productivity and supporting farmers, and have decided to commence discussions.

2. JA's currently collaborating and in discussion (as of April 15, 2026)
Cooperatives currently collaborating (8 cooperatives)
・Akita Obako Agricultural Cooperative (Akita Prefecture)
・Yamagata Okitama Agricultural Cooperative (Yamagata Prefecture)
・Yamanashi Mirai Agricultural Cooperative (Yamanashi Prefecture)
・Kamiina Agricultural Cooperative (Nagano Prefecture)
・Oi River Agricultural Cooperative (Shizuoka Prefecture)
・Ise Agricultural Cooperative (Mie Prefecture)
・Taki-gun Agricultural Cooperative (Mie Prefecture)
・Kinokawa Regional Headquarters, Wakayama Prefectural Agricultural Cooperative (Wakayama Prefecture)

Cooperatives currently in discussion (3 cooperatives)
・Kita-Biwako Agricultural Cooperative (Shiga Prefecture)
・Hyogo Rokko Agricultural Cooperative (Hyogo Prefecture)
・Okinawa Prefectural Agricultural Cooperative (Okinawa Prefecture)

3. Overview of JA Hyogo Rokko (as of end of March 2025)
Name: Hyogo Rokko Agricultural Cooperative
Head office location: 2-12-13 Arino Nakacho, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Representative: Katsuharu Hirao, Representative Director and President
Number of members: 127,207 (30,056 regular members, 97,151 associate members)
Constituent municipalities: Kobe City, Takarazuka City, Nishinomiya City, Sanda City, Amagasaki City, Itami City, Kawanishi City, Inagawa Town
Purchase amount: 3.5 billion yen
Sales amount: 16.8 billion yen
*Source: Hyogo Rokko Agricultural Cooperative website

4. Discussion content
The specific details of the collaboration will be discussed and decided based on the following matters.
① Construction of a sustainable agricultural production support model utilizing respective management resources
② Implementation of initiatives that contribute to the convenience of local farmers
③ Development of JA products at Komeri stores opening in the JA Hyogo Rokko area
④ Collaboration on products and services that contribute to the above initiatives

5. Future outlook
We will announce again once a concrete agreement on collaboration initiatives has been reached.