The market for cranberries has been expanding in the United States over the past several years and is also looking to increase expansion worldwide.

The Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association began a two-day educational and experiential tour of the cranberry industry in Wisconsin on Monday for marketers from Japan and representatives from the U.S. Cranberry Marketing Committee (CMC). The tour, which highlighted Wisconsin’s largest fruit crop to help marketers increase exports to Japan, brought representatives to the Habelman Brothers cranberry marsh and fresh fruit packing facility just east of Tomah on Tuesday.

“One of the reasons we are here is to learn more about the cranberry industry,” Izumi Amana, a marketer from Tokyo of the CMC, said Tuesday. “The challenge is to increase awareness.”

Amana was a part of the tour, along with Yukiko Yasunari and CMC Executive Director David Farrimond. The CMC started in 1999 and represents the cranberry industry across the country.

“There was an over supply of cranberries when we started in 1999,” Farrimond said. “Sales are up, and we wanted to look at international markets. We brought (Amana and Yasunari) on board to focus on consumer education.”

Amano and Yasunari were recently hired by CMC to reach Japanese consumers with important facts about cranberries, their uses, recipes, products and health benefits. They have conducted similar export efforts for the poultry, egg, and potato industries of the United States.

“Health and wellness is paramount to the Japanese consumer and the cranberry has a great health story to tell,” Farrimond said. “Japan’s marketplace is fast-paced with constant demand for new products and especially those with health and beauty benefits. Because of that, we want to step up efforts to communicate about the value of cranberries in products.”

The tour brought the representatives to cranberry businesses in Wisconsin Rapids, Camp Douglas and Tomah. After the Wisconsin tour, the group left to tour facilities in Massachusetts - which generally ranks second in cranberry production in the United States behind Wisconsin - before returning to Japan.

When Amano and Yasunari return to Japan, they plan on doing store promotions and educating consumers on the benefits of cranberries and the many uses for them.

“We are going to receive the fresh cranberry in Japan and other products,” Amano said. We will do store promotions and try to conduct an infomercial and have a recipe contest.”

The CMC, which is headquartered in Wareham, Mass., expects roughly 16,000 barrels of cranberries will be exported to Japan this year, and Farrimond said that they would like to see that number increase. Since 1999, the CMC has been seeking to increase exports with a focus on Germany, France, Europe, Australia, South Korea, and Mexico along with Japan. The CMC reported that total exports have increased and approximately 27 percent of the U.S. cranberry crop is exported. Worldwide demand for cranberries has also increased 30 percent by value over the last year. In 2007, approximately 1.6 million pounds of cranberries were exported to Japan.

Amano and Yasunari said that roughly five percent of Japanese consumers are aware of the health benefits of cranberries, and that information gathering on the crop is important to marketing the product in the country. On their tour, they also got to see how the cranberries are manufactured in the United States, and they said that they gained an appreciation for the business which they hope will help them promote the crop’s uniqueness.

“The people we met, we feel, have such a passion to grow cranberries,” Amano said. “It is amazing to see how it is generation to generation. In Japan, we see a lot of getting rid of family business. But here, we see it go generation to generation with the same passion as their ancestors.”