Tanaka at Nippon Flour Mill

Tanaka at Nippon Flour Mills working together again
with Wheat Marketing Center's Bon Lee

PORTLAND, OR (March 28, 2002) -- Bongil (Bon) Lee, Wheat Marketing Center Laboratory Supervisor, teamed again recently with Tomoki (Tom) Tanaka for extensive work at Nippon Flour Mills (Nippn) Central Laboratory and other wheat processing facilities in the Tokyo area.

Tanaka and Lee worked together at the Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) during Tanaka's six-month U.S. wheat industry training program, June through December 2001. Facilitating Lee's WMC work is his fluency in Japanese, as he was reared in Chiba, Japan.

High on the agenda was a call on the Wheat Flour Institute Director, Mr. H. Kubota, at the Flour Millers Association in Tokyo. Lee reported examining and exchanging information regarding Amylograph viscosity data of wheat flour.

Lee then worked with the technologists in Nippon Flour Mills Central Laboratory in examining analytical, rheological, and finished product protocols. (Protocols include product recipe, procedure, and evaluation.) One of their pasta plants in Tokyo was toured, and pasta purchasing trends for both Japanese and U.S. markets were presented and examined.

Tanaka and Lee also toured a Nippon Flour Mills plant in Chiba, enhancing Lee's knowledge of current flour milling practices in Japan. Lee commented that "milling production techniques are completely different from those in the U.S. Understanding that process is important when looking at the needs and demands of Japanese consumers. We must know flour specifications for Japanese customers and understand wheat requirements for Japanese wheat foods. We will pass that knowledge along through Wheat Marketing Center and U.S. Wheat Associates contacts and networks."

Tanaka and Lee continued their consumer research by visiting Nippon Flour Mills Technical Customer Center, where actual products are made, tested, and evaluated based on customer needs. This facility also develops new products for their baker and noodle customer groups.

Lee concluded the trip with on-location marketing research of bakeries and marketplace shops where wheat foods are being manufactured and sold.

For additional information, contact the Wheat Marketing Center: 1200 NW Naito Parkway, Suite 230, Portland, OR 97209. Telephone 503/295-0823, Fax 503/295-2735, or email: info@wmcinc.org

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The Wheat Marketing Center is a private, non-profit corporation that is a bridge
between wheat producers of the Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest and
wheat importers throughout the world.
It is a focal point for wheat processing information, particularly in the countries
of the Pacific Rim, with a mission to conduct wheat research projects and to provide
related educational activities to the worldwide wheat-consuming industry.

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