Nishimoto Wismettac Group

N i sh i mo t o W i s me t t a c G r oup

http://www.ntcltd.com/

GROUP PROF I LE

The Nishimoto Wismettac group of companies is a trading company of food ingredients and

foodstuff, which original company was established in 1912 and have over one century history.

The Company managed to survive times of upheaval to emerge where it is today. Everyone on the

Nishimoto team is most grateful, particularly to our customers and business partners for their

unwavering support.

During this period, we have seen the roles played by trading companies change. However, even in

these new times, the Nishimoto Wismettac Group continues to uphold its fundamental philosophy,

which requires that we give top priority to the prosperity of our customers and business partners, our

backbone since the start, and that we maintain our frontier spirit and creativity.

Yoshiro SusakiNishimoto Co., Ltd. Chairman&CEO

We in the Nishimoto Wismettac Group have a dream to enrich the lives of people

throughout the world through food. Now, a century after our founding, our aim is

to achieve this dream through enhancing the links between our Group

companies as they continue to expand globally, and contribute to the happiness

of many more customers. Making the world happy through delicious food. That

is the path the Nishimoto Wismettac Group will continue to tread.

It is in times of change that a specialized trading company such as ourselves must fulfill its true role.

Currently, markets as well as production areas are facing major environmental changes, both

internally and externally, and new standards and ideals are required for products and services

globally.

These changes provide a major opportunity for our clients, and, at the same time, can pose a risk.

Our mission, however, remains the same: to quickly realize and provide opportunities while foreseeing

and dealing with risks.

Our goals are to provide reliable and trustworthy services, and to create and provide value that is one

step ahead of the times. In realizing these aims we also hope to integrate them in a way that reflects

the standpoint of our customers and business partners.

As a business, and as good global citizens, we derive our motivation from our desire to move forward

through another century as a corporation that really makes a difference to people. This desire not only

motivates us, but it fuels our growth, and is a source of satisfaction to the employees of the whole

Nishimoto Wismettac Group. We thereby renew our determination to undertake what we do in the

best possible faith and with a real sense of mission.

M E S S A G E F R O M T H E T O P M A N A G E M E N T

Starting the New Century with a Renewed Sense of Gratitude

For the Satisfaction and Growth of our Customers and Business

Message from The Top ManagementN i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p 03P R O L O G U E N i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p02

N i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p

WismettacAsianFoodsOur North American wholesale business is handled by Wismettac Asian

Foods. Its history dates back to the opening of a branch store in Seattle

in 1920. For nearly a hundred years from that time, we have expanded

our network to cover major North American cities through steady, solid

business practices. At present, we have branches in 23 locations (four

of which are satellite offices), including four in Canada, and have

established our status in the top ranks of the Japanese foods wholesale

business in North America. Our clients include Japanese, Korean,

Chinese, and other Asian-operated restaurants and grocery stores

across North America, as well as chain store operators expanding

business nationwide. We have been focusing on expanding sales on

a large scale, eyeing the whole continent of North America. For

example, we recently started new business with one of the biggest

retail stores in the United States.

We carry around 8,400 items ranging from Japanese food, which is our

main focus, to kitchen equipment and other general items in order to

meet our customers’ needs. We procure products from around the

world: the United States and Canada as well as East Asia (Japan,

China, Korea, etc.), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, etc.), Europe

(Norway, Denmark, etc.). Furthermore, one of the strengths of

Wismettac Asian Foods is the development of our private brand,

Shirakiku, in addition to products sourced from major producers both

domestic and foreign. By leveraging our networks as the Nishimoto

Wismettac Group, and through our ability to develop flexibly to meet our

customers’ requirements, we are constantly working to provide high

levels of satisfaction.

We have our own in-house distribution capabilities to provide speedy

and attentive levels of service for our customers. We have a total of more

than 150 refrigerated trucks over all branches to provide shipping, and

temperature-controlled warehouses in three different temperature

zones, including refrigeration and cold storage, with the largest being our

20,438 m2 Los Angeles warehouse. In all processes, from stock

management in warehouses to shipping and delivery to customers, we

implement strict temperature

control and best-before date

management every day to

ensure that we can always

provide our customers with

products in the best possible

condition.

Our wholesale business is now expanding into Asia, Oceania and

Europe in response to numerous customer requests. This is possible

thanks to the sales strengths we have built up over many years in

North America, our product competitiveness based on repeated

improvements we have made together with our customers and

producers, and through our efficient, local-based shipping systems. In

China, we have taken a great leap forward in domestic sales through

Nishimoto Trading Group Foodstuffs Shanghai Co., Ltd., which has

been supporting the Nishimoto Wismettac Group as a playmaker for

production and procurement. In addition, we have established

Wismettac Singapore and Wismettac Australia as local corporations

in the new fields of Singapore and Australia, respectively. Using our

combined strength as a global food products and ingredients

distribution company, we are working on ways we can contribute to

the growth of everyone related to the food service business.

Providing Japanese and other Asian tastes for our customers on a daily basis is the core business of the Nishimoto

Wismettac Group. We are always ready to listen to what our customers are saying and reflect their diversifying needs

in our unique product lineups. This is made possible by the networks of the Nishimoto Wismettac Group as it expands

overseas. We develop products that satisfy our customers by always sourcing the right produce from the right

producers in the optimal locations and by ensuring thorough quality management.

Asian Food Global Business

Providing ingredients for supermarkets and restaurants around North America

A product lineup from ingredients to kitchen equipment

Attentive support for customers utilizing our in-house distribution capabilities

Our wholesale business crosses the Pacific to China, Singapore, and onto Australia

Our community-based business activities bring the taste of Japan to your town with our nationwide distribution network covering the major North American cities.

Business Model in North America

Wholesale & DistributionN i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p 05Wholesale & Distribution N i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p04

N i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p

Wholesa le & Dis t r ibu t ion

Nishimoto Trading

Europe

MiddleEast

China

SoutheastAsia

Australia

Asian Food Global Business of Export Division sells ethnic foods, mainly

Japanese food, to countries around the world in places like Europe,

Asia, and South America, with more than forty nations being supplied.

Japanese food is now common in major world cities, fusing with the

cuisine of each country, and, in recent years, we have seen even newer

food needs emerge. Production sites and sourcing areas for

ingredients are spreading out from Japan to the United States, China,

Thailand, and Asian nations as Japanese manufacturers and restaurant

industries expand their operations overseas along with the growing

popularity of Japanese food around the world.

Food product export is a very specialized business that requires a great

deal of knowledge of the different regulations and eating habits in each

country. We are able to leverage the global network of the Nishimoto

Wismettac Group to provide our customers around the world with safe

and secure ingredients produced by the best manufacturers in the most

appropriate regions.

We have sales offices in Tokyo and Los Angeles. The Tokyo office

covers Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East, and the Los Angeles

office covers South America and Russia.Drawing on the full strength of

the entire Nishimoto Wismettac Group, and our overwhelming sales

strength in wholesaling, we develop competitive products based on a

product-orientated perspective. At the same time, we are linked with

local corporations in Shanghai, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom

and Hong-kong, a representative office in Bangkok, one in Paris, as well

as a partner company in Europe to work on product planning,

development, and sales that accurately understands the food-based

needs of each region based on a market-orientated perspective.

Our Asian Food Global Business of Export Division exports Japanese and other ethnic foods to countries around the world.

Food around the world is diversifying, with people wanting healthier choices. The flow of world foods is from propagation to

establishment and fusion. To respond to these needs, we supply the best quality foods from Japan and Asia to the world.

The Nishimoto Wismettac Group is expanding its field of activities as a globally-based fabless manufacturer. Handling

a diverse range of products, we are broadening our suppliers and sales outlets throughout the world. Quality control for

products and managing regulations for each country is extremely complex, but we provide efficient operations to

ensure safety and security, and to maintain our competitiveness at the same time.

The Nishimoto Wismettac Group handles a wide range of products,

from agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables to fisheries

products such as tuna, prawns, and eels, and from processed foods

such as confectionary, seasonings, and drinks to dietary supplements,

building a stable supply system in the world’s best production areas to meet

the needs of our customers. This Group growth strategy is supported

by experts in quality control at the Food Safety Control Office. Safety

and security for food is the most important issue for everyone in the

food distribution business; these are key words with a universal

meaning not just in Japan but around the world. The Food Safety

Control Office is responsible for ensuring compliance with the laws

and regulations in each country, as well as guaranteeing the safety and

security of all food products the Group companies handle. In addition to

the daily work it carries out for safety inspections of our food products,

its staff will occasionally travel to our suppliers to inspect the integrated

process in detail from raw ingredient production (farms, hatcheries) to

production and processing, and then onto storage and warehousing.

We use a number of management

methods, centered around HACCP

and also including ISO22000, GAP,

and GMP, to create our own proprietary

management method, and will continue

to pursue the levels of food safety and

security demanded by our customers.

The Group has minimized

regulatory risk and other

negative factors by building

a Groupwide system to

comply with the wide range

of different local regulations

in the value chain

Administrative Functions of the GroupN i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p 07Overseas Exportation N i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p06

Overseas E xpor t a t ion

Ingredients sourced from around the world, for the world.- From the World, To the World -

A Global Network

Making the best tastes of each country the best tastes of the world

Exporting Globally

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Administrative Functions of the Group

Administ rat ive Funct ions of the Group

The power supporting the entire Nishimoto Wismettac Group

Food Safety Control Office

Ensuring safety and security for all products handled by the Group

Asian Food Global Business

Frozen fruit and vegetables, Canned goods etc

NORTH AMERICA

SOUTH AMERICAOCEANIA

Wismettac FoodsIPM SHANGHAI

AFRICA,MIDDLE EAST

ASIAEUROPE

Overseas farms/ factories

Food Service Companies Retailers Whole

SalersDomestic food manufacturers

Vegetable andFruit Market

Wismettac Foods

In the fruits and vegetables category, we take pride in handling the largest

volume of citrus fruits in Japan, such as lemons, oranges, and grapefruits,

as the general agent for Sunkist Growers, the largest agricultural

cooperative in the United States. We also deal in a wide range of other

fruits and vegetables from suppliers in places like South America and

Southeast Asia, including tropical fruits like avocadoes and mangoes,

bananas, and pineapples, as well as vegetables such as paprika and

asparagus. In the frozen and dried category, we import both frozen fruits

and dried vegetables, especially strawberries, blueberries, and mangoes,

providing a stable supply for Japanese food product manufacturers who

demand the highest quality standards, as well as for central kitchens of

food service industries throughout the country. In order to meet

customers' expectations, the Nishimoto Wismettac Group is developing

its own integrated business model for managing everything from

production area development to production management, quality

management and shipping based on the key words of “safety” and

“security.”

Farm locations, harvest season, and harvest frequency of farm products vary

according to crop varieties, and seasonal weather changes have a great impact

on quality and yield, which entails the risk of severe market fluctuations resulting

from a growing gap between supply and demand. There are also risks from

quality deterioration arising at warehouses, and from the inevitable currency

conversion associated with overseas trading. The Nishimoto Wismettac Group

is working on initiatives in this business in the context of these various risks for

creating an environment where our growers can carry out planting and

cultivation with peace of mind, based on which we can provide stable supplies

for our customers. In the meantime, overseas growers are turning their attention

from Japan to other countries such as China, which have increased their

purchasing power as the economy of these newly-emerging nations develops.

The Nishimoto Wismettac Group itself is expanding the wholesaling of fruits and

vegetables in the Chinese market through its local subsidiary. In addition to

creating a strong sales foundation by increasing our domestic market share, we

shall expand our sales network by establishing new sales offices in Asian

countries in the near future. This will allow us to further solidify the trust

relationships with growers overseas which we have fostered over many years,

and continue to work on building win-win relationships with them.

We import fruits and vegetables from all over the world and sell them to wholesale markets and mass retailers

throughout Japan, and supply ingredients to the restaurant industry and foodstuff manufacturers. In line with our

diversified sales channels, we carry a wide range of products, from fresh fruits and vegetables to frozen and dried

foods, which we are able to provide according to the specs our customers require, such as production area, standards,

and quality. This ability forms the strength of our Agricultural & Seafood Products Trading Business within the Nishimoto

Wismettac Group.

Fruits from OverseasN i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p 09Fruits from Overseas N i s h i m o t o W i s m e t t a c G r o u p08

Agricultural & Seafood Products Trading Business

Fru i t s f rom Overseas

“Wismettac Foods Means Fruits” An overwhelming presence built up in Japan

Strengthening trust relationships with producers, expanding business globallyA bridge connecting Japan and foreign producers

Trade Flow of Farm Produce

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As the sole Japanese importer for Sunkist Growers Inc., the business has captured a leading share of the imported citrus fruit market， with high market share of lemons and oranges

May 1912: Mokichi Nishimoto opened Nishimoto General Store, a trading store, in Kobe, and starts an import-export business. Focuses on exporting Japanese foods to Japanese nationals living overseas. July 1920: Opened Seattle Branch. Nov. 1921: The private foods brand for overseas, “Shirakiku,” is registered as a trademark. 1941: The Seattle store had its assets frozen and stopped business as a result of WW2 breaking out. Sept. 1947: Following the end of the war, with the resumption of private-sector trade, Nishimoto Trading Co. Ltd. was established,

and the Tokyo Branch opened. Jan. 1959: Opened Hawaii Branch. July 1960: Opened Los Angeles Branch. (established the current Nishimoto Trading (U.S.)) Mar. 1964: Opened San Francisco Branch. May 1968: Became the general import agent for Sunkist Growers. Mar. 1974: Opened New York Branch. Mar. 1982: Acquired Hawaii MUM’ S, merged with the Hawaii Branch. Oct. 1991: Opened Chicago Branch. Mar. 1994: Qualified as being a designated trading company for SBS rice. Sept. 1995: Opened Florida Branch. Oct. Opened Arizona Branch. Nov. 1996: Opened Las Vegas Branch. June 1997: Opened Denver Branch. Jan. 1998: Opened Vancouver Branch. Mar. Opened Seattle Branch. Oct. Established International Produce Marketing Co., Ltd. (IPM). July 1999: Opened Atlanta Branch. Sept. Opened Washington, DC Branch. Nov. Opened Toronto Branch. Jan. 2000: Established Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd. Shanghai Representative Office. Oct. Merged Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd. Produce Dept. and International Produce Marketing Co., Ltd. to establish,

IPM Nishimoto Co., Ltd. July 2001: Opened Dallas Branch. Sept. Established GBI Co., Ltd. Aug. 2002: Opened San Diego Branch. Renamed Tokyo Branch as Head Office due to relocating business functions from the Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd.

Kobe Head Office. Jan. 2006: Established GBI Capital Co., Ltd. May 2008: Established Nishimoto Trading Group Foodstuffs Shanghai Co., Ltd Oct. 2010: Established Nishimoto Co., Ltd.(Holdings Company) Jan. 2011: Established NTC Wismettac Singapore Pte. Ltd. May 2012: Opened Montreal Branch. July Opened Houston Branch. Sept. Established NTC Wismettac Australia Pty Ltd. Opened Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd. Representative Office in Paris. Jan. 2014: Established NTC Wismettac Europe B.V. Jan. 2015: Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd. (North America) changed its trade name to Wismettac Asian Foods, Inc., and

Canadian subsidiary was established. IPM Nishimoto succeeded a part of Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd. s business, and changed its trade name

Wismettac Foods, Inc.Jan. 2016: 　Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd. acquired all of the outstanding shares of Harro Foods Limited , a British importer

and wholesaler of Japanese foodstuff. July Opened Orlando Branch. Oct. Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd. acquired all of the outstanding shares of Nippon Foods, Co., Ltd., a Hong Kong

wholesaler of Japanese foodstuff.Jan. 2017: 　Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd., acquired 20% of the outstanding shares of SSP Konsumgüter TRADE & CONSULT

GmbH, a German importer and wholesaler of Japanese foodstuff, for the purpose of working together to expand business alliance.

Feb. Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd. acquired 20% of the outstanding shares of COMPTOIRS DES 3 CAPS SARL, a French importer and wholesaler of fish and shellfish, for the purpose of working together to expand business alliance.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　(As of July 2017)

We merge the knowledge and experience we have gained in food

products with the latest nutritional methods from the United States to

provide nutritional programs based around balanced meals, exercise,

and nutrition, as well as supplements such as multi-vitamins, minerals,

and resveratrol, to support total healthcare .

By selling high value added products directly to our customers,

including globally recognized products, carefully selected local

(Japanese) products, and amenity products, we secure prospective

customers and clients. We also create new products and services

through our retail business.

Brillat-Savarin was quoted as saying: “To bring pleasure to others is to grant them a small joyful surprise.”

The Nishimoto Wismettac Group is involved in the amenities and retail business from a desire to give our customers

this “pleasure.” We deliver the joy, smiles, and health created by food right to you.

The activity concept for the P Cube Department is based on the “Three

Ps” of Pleasure, Produce, and Present. Along with introducing unique

overseas food brands that are not available in Japan, we plan, develop

and distribute products for seasonal events such as Valentine’s Day,

Halloween, and Christmas to sell them. In addition, we plan and sell

food toys of character products as licensing business.

Our mission is to create shops that will make you stop by spotlessly

enjoyable products for hands.

Our client base is varied and extensive, including imported goods

stores, variety shops, household goods stores, mass merchandisers,

and the product needs are completely different for each shop.

Analyze what kinds of products are required according to customers

visiting stores, the location of shops, depending on the trends and

seasons of that time, always proposing new products and sales floors

and offering new value.

Based on orders we receive mainly from Japanese-Americans and

Japanese nationals stationed throughout the United States, we deliver

US-produced fresh fruits and luxury foodstuffs as gifts to their friends

and relatives living in Japan. We plan to expand this service in the

foreseeable future to allow customers in the EU, Thailand and China to

send gifts to Japan, and from Japan to all over the world.

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Our next century begins upon the solid foundation of our past century.

History of the GroupAmenities and Retail Business

Ameni t y Foods & Reta i l

Mail order catalog business for home shoppers mainly in the United States

Providing new joys from encounters with foreign food cultures.

World Gift

Sales of supplements based on preventive medicine

Supplements

Passing on the allure of overseas culture through food.

Amenity Foods

Making the most of customers' feedback for the creation of new products and services

Retail

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