Elio E. Orsara, who belongs to the network of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, is a successful Calabrian chef and owner of a restaurant, a bakery and a catering company. In Japan he exports Italian wine and oil and here he started a production of salami, cheese and typical Calabrian products, together with an e-commerce activity. It is another emblematic story of Assocamerestero's “Doing business abroad is possible” digital communication project. Here is his story of catering in Japan and how he created the Kioi Corporation KK, which owns the restaurant “Elio Locanda Italiana” and “Elio Catering Service” but not only…
“All my activity – explains Orsara – began during the bubble period, in the early 90s, when many great Italian chefs were called to Japan; it was precisely at that moment that the quality of Italian cuisine in the Japanese country began to grow… The Japanese customer has in fact always distinguished himself in wanting to eat well, preferring high-end cuisine and Tokyo is today, without a doubt, the capital in the sector of high quality catering. After graduating from hotel school and some experiences as a chef in England, Spain and the United States, I returned to Italy, where I worked at the Monticelli Golf Club (Como). There I accepted the offer of a Japanese trip on behalf of the Japanese giant Daiei. From 1991 to '93 I was responsible for the opening and management of five Italian restaurants linked to the large industrial group, which was followed by the opening of the Bellavista restaurant in Shinjuku for the Takano group and, in 1994, the collaboration with Reinhardt Reitmeier for the launch of the Illycaffè brand on the Japanese market”.
” The first impression I had of Italian restaurants in Japan when I arrived - says the Calabrian chef - is that the cuisine of the Belpaese was mainly made up of 'family restaurants' and not 'fine dining' because it had been imported into the Land of Sol Levante, after the Second World War, by the Italian-Americans. I wanted to remedy this and, finally, in 1996, I opened my restaurant 'Elio Locanda Italiana' in Kojimachi (Tokyo). Since then, I have started many collaborations on different projects. In the field of the food industry, in 2008, in collaboration with the Natori company, I developed a new line of food products for large-scale distribution inspired by local traditions, 'The good salami of southern Italy'. As a consultant, I followed, among other things, the opening of the Armani Caffè in Hong Kong, the design and management of the restaurant of the Italian pavilion of Expo 2005 in Aichi and the opening of the Lamborghini Christmas Cafè pop-up store in Omotesando ".
Orsara then goes on to list the other businesses he has created and carried on for 15 years now: "In 2009 I started my business of importing Calabrian food products, which culminated with the creation of a 'sister' company and the opening in 2010 of the ecommerce site of genuine Italian products VERA@ITALIA. In 2011, a few months after the great Tohoku earthquake, I inaugurated what can be considered a second location: 'Elio Antica Forneria', a more casual restaurant than the 'Locanda', café, wine shop and artisan bakery. Four years ago, finally, I was able to make one of my dreams come true: I opened the first dairy in Japan for the production of typically Calabrian cheeses using the best local organic milk, the 'Fattoria Bio Hokkaido'. To make this dream come true I had to overcome immense obstacles, just think that never before in Japan had a foreigner been granted a license to process fresh milk. Furthermore, to install the machinery (all strictly Italian) engineers from Italy had to come to Japan and this was not well tolerated by the traditional Japanese distribution system, which tried to block and boycott my business. In the end, however, I managed to create a small colony of Calabrian cheesemakers who, in the countryside of Sapporo, produce cheeses from the Italian region with local organic milk. Finally I decided to start the production of salami, always using Italian techniques, machinery and know-how, but Japanese pigs. As for marketing, I produce wine and oil in Italy which are imported to Japan while, on the Japanese production side, the products 'Fattoria Bio Hokkaido and 'made in Hokkaido by Italians' are well established and can be found in many high-end supermarkets. level, while as far as the cured meats of 'Antica Salumeria' are concerned, we still have to give ourselves a lot to do and work hard”.
This 'bearer' of the Italian agro-food tradition in Japan then makes some considerations on the difficulties of doing business in the Japanese country: “Japan is a difficult country. Just when, even after so many years, one thinks one has understood it, one realizes that nothing has been understood. In fact, one must always be cautious and remember that it is characterized by being an island; without people's full trust nothing can be achieved because, at times, the latter is almost worth more than the goodness of the product. After, however, with so much effort, it is possible to obtain this trust, the Land of the Rising Sun offers unlimited opportunities. In the catering sector there is a lot of competition from France as regards cuisine and wines, from Chile for the special commercial benefits it enjoys in Japan, but the main competitors remain Australia and China”.
“Among my plans for the future, I would like to create a bridge between Calabria and Japan to export all the fantastic products of this region but also to grow Japanese tourism in Calabria” continues Elio Ermanno Orsara who adds: “In particular, I would like to open a grocery store in Tokyo, an agritourism and produce Bio vegetables”. The conclusion is on the more emotional side of doing business abroad: “The most important psychological aspect is the certainty of representing the best product and offering something special that others don't have. Furthermore, it is always essential to fully understand the culture of the country that hosts us and to possess enthusiasm, stubbornness and an open mind”.
MartinaSalds, Sales & Communication Manager of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan - ICCJ, explains how it has been "many years that the ICCJ has supported entrepreneurial realities in Japan and Elio Ermanno Orsara, to date one of the greatest exponents of Calabrian cuisine in the Japanese country , is part of our network. His company asks us for services such as the organization of cooking seminars for the Japanese network and tastings of typical and artisanal products. The promotion of Italian culture and cuisine are in fact among the most important activities of the Chamber and for this reason, every year, we organize competitions and events on the subject. The fundamental and most positive aspect in the action we carry out in support of the customer is the loyalty of the network which recognizes us and the Italian restaurateurs in Japan as a 'second home'”. And, in the end, even in a complex country like Japan, the results come.
