All vegetables and fruits are free! 1 click to save producers 11:11 November 11th

Vegetables and fruits carefully grown by farmers. There are often a few scratches that are discarded. Give away these crops for free, and the producers will also benefit! I heard that it was a “brow saliva” story, and I heard that it was actually a business. (Kumamoto Broadcasting Station announcer Takahiro Ishii)

A box of mandarin oranges

One box delivered to a family of four one day in October.

When you open it, there are many mandarin oranges from Kumamoto Prefecture.
Scratches and uneven color are noticeable, but when you actually eat it ...

There is no sink at all on the market.

(Mother) "It looks a little bad, but it's enough to eat at home. Children are also delicious."

Actually, this tangerine. It is a “present” that you applied for at a site and won as a result of lottery.

Why can I make it free?

This site called “Furifuru”. It is operated by Tatsuya Sakaguchi (32).

Mr. Sakaguchi, who originally worked in the wholesale of vegetables. Ten years ago, I started this service when I saw a field of Chinese cabbage that was not sold because of a price drop.

(Mr. Sakaguchi) “It was shocking or unimaginable. I remember that it was shocking that there was such a world. I came to think. ''

This site started to reduce the amount of discarded crops. But why can I get a free gift?

The secret is over 1.7 million visits per month. The advertising expenses paid based on this access cover the operating expenses.

“Delicious” mechanism for producers

A group of producers in Takamori-cho, one of Sakaguchi's business partners in the Aso region, cultivates peppers.

There are a few bends, dents, and tiny scratches, and the price goes down so much that even if it is put on the market, it may not even be a box fee. For this reason, the group sometimes discarded non-standard bell peppers like a mountain in the corner of the field.

Mr. Sakaguchi bought almost 20 kilos of these green peppers every week and put them on the site.

“Because you can eat it with the peppers that you made with great care. It ’s a waste to throw it away.

Expanding business partners

Depending on the situation, the winners will be responsible for paying the shipping costs for the crops so that the company will not be in the red.

The number of transactions with production groups that started mainly in the local area of ​​Kumamoto has now increased to more than 50, mainly in Kyushu, Hokkaido and Saitama.

It is said that the site has gained a reputation for being able to receive fresh crops for free, and the advertising fee revenue according to the number of accesses can be as high as 1 million yen per month.

Secret of deficit Marche

Mr. Sakaguchi, an idea man, has also begun direct sales named “Marche” to expand the business.

The sales corner was set up in the rental video store in Kumamoto. Limited to one day, selling apples and onions, many of which are less than 100 yen cheaper than the purchase price! It is a deficit price.

Why do you make a business with pricing based on a deficit?

The answer is the “store opening fee” received from the rental video store. As video distribution services emerge, rental video stores are also struggling to attract customers. If customers can be attracted to “Marche” as the priming water, an effect that exceeds the “store opening fee” can be expected.

Strategies are also put in place to attract customers. Sales usually start at 11am when there are few customers in the store. The product will be gradually replenished until 2 pm so that customers are not interrupted.

There were many people who heard the information and lined up before the start of sales. About 250 products were sold out, and we were able to attract many customers to the store.

The rental video store manager Koji Yamamoto was promoting it by introducing a recommended movie to customers who bought vegetables.

(Yamamoto store manager) "I will think about how people who come to the vegetable market will use the store in the future. I think that new value can be created."

Social contribution through business

In the future, Mr. Sakaguchi intends to expand the business by increasing the number of staff and increasing the number of producers to work with nationwide.

“I want to put more spots on things that will be thrown away and make good use of them. I want to find ways for everyone to become WIN-WIN.”

In the same way as the problem of food loss where foods that cannot be eaten and prepared dishes are thrown away, the problem of non-standard crops that cannot be put into circulation in the first place is a problem for society as a whole. For that reason, I felt that Mr. Sakaguchi's activities were also an opportunity to make consumers aware of the problem.

How will this business develop so that everyone involved is happy? I would like to pay attention to the future of “Ideaman”.

Kumamoto Broadcasting Station announcer Takahiro Ishii

In charge of the caster of the main news "Kumarok!"