General trading house
Relevant procedures on the deal have been completed, an Itochu spokesman said without giving details, only revealing that it is investing hundreds of millions of yen and that the amount makes it the second-largest shareholder of the
The capital alliance, Itochu's first with a Chinese coffee company, scaled up the previous business tie-up deal under which the Japanese trader supplied coffer beans to Shanghai Weiming.
Itochu can now not only strengthen the supply functions for coffee beans by making the most of its global network but engage in sales of Shanghai Weiming's products in the Chinese market.
The Itochu spokesman said the rapidly expanding demand for coffee in
Itochu is also paying attention to the increasing awareness of food safety among Chinese consumers. In a possible future collaboration with the Chinese partner, Itochu plans to employ the platform it is using in a tie-up with
==Kyodo
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