Shizuoka green tea brand was created through a cooperation between Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan and Ichitan Group PLC., 100% tea leaves from renowned tea plantation in Japan imported to produce ready-to-drink tea in Thailand. The main objective was to promote Shizuoka as Japan’s largest tea plantation that it has become known as “Japan’s tea capital”.

Shizuoka Green Tea has been created with “the best tea from the best origin” concept. Shizuoka Prefecture is No. 1 tea growing region in Japan given the perfect weather and water supply from melting snow on top of Fuji mountain which rich in minerals. The product is the first and only one with the right to use the “Fujipi”, Shizuoka’s mascot, and the official partnership of the Shizuoka Tea Export Association. The tea formula was carefully developed by Sensei Satoru Fujimoto and Sensei Takahashi Yoshinobu, the renowned tea makers from Shizuoka, who have crafted Shizuoka green tea to contain a uniquely authentic taste of Japan tea.

Following its launch in 2018, Shizuoka Green Tea has become popular among Thai consumers that it pushed premium ready-to-drink green tea market in the country to grow from 873 million baht (2017) to 1,141 million baht ( 2018) . For the first half of 2019, the market is worth as high as 676 million baht and Shizuoka is currently a no.1 brand in the premium ready-to-drink green tea market.

And to say thank you to people in Thailand, tea farmers from Shizuoka has taken part of Shizuoka’s new TVC by recruiting themselves as cast of the TVC as they thought “No one would tell story of Shizuoka tea better than the farmers who bring them to Thai people”. This new TVC has two versions – a 30-second version called “Good Water” and “Good Soil” which is also 30 seconds in length. Both TVCs tell a story of how farmers in Shizuoka have been trying to think of the way to make Thai people love Shizuoka tea. They have found out that Thais loved action and drama movies. As a result, they put those action and drama elements into the TVCs to convey the message of their strong commitment to bring the best tea to Thai consumers.

Kazuteru Ohashi, the owner of Kawane Tea Plantation and President and CEO of Kawane Matcha, of behalf of Shizuoka people said “I would like to say thank you to consumers in Thailand who has given a very warm welcome to Shizuoka tea. Shizuoka was named the capital city of tea in Japan. More than 40% of tea being consumed in Japan came from tea plantation in Shizuoka. Tea making is where the spirit of people in Shizuoka lies. And at Kawane Matcha Tea Plantation, which is a source for Shizuoka Hojicha tea and has a long history of more than 400 years, we take meticulous care of every detail in tea planting to reflect our commitment and craftsmanship throughout the process in order to produce the best taste of tea from the best source. It is our proudest achievement that we can use our tea leaves to produce the best ready-to-drink tea for Thai people.”

Mr. Thanapan Kongnanta, Executive Vice President Sales and Distribution of Ichitan Group PLC., added “The total ready-to-drink tea market is worth 6,439 million baht in the first half of 2019, a 5.5% increase, but the premium tea segment jumped 33.4%, a highest growth in ready-to-drink tea market.”

At the beginning, Shizuoka strategically targeted on health-conscious people and premium segment, particularly urban consumers who wanted to indulge in a taste of premium-grade tea from Japan. After two years of communicating and allowing consumers to know more about the brand, Shizuoka has decided to adjust our strategy to reach premium mass segment. And we believe that TVC remains an important medium to reach targeted consumers and allows Shizuoka to build upon it online and through social media.

The new TVC by Shizuoka aims to portray a premium image of the brand through how Japanese tea farmers have put the craftsmanship, the spirit and the determination into it before delivering the best quality green tea to Thai consumers.

Shizuoka green tea, priced at 30 baht per each 440ml bottle, has three flavors and is available now at convenient stores and leading retail stores nationwide. For more information, click www.facebook.com/shizuokath.