DHL Global Forwarding opens offices in Hokkaido, Japan’s
DHL Global Forwarding has opened new offices in Sapporo, the largest city on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, to improve logistics for seafood exporters.
The island is a particularly major dealer in scallops, a lucrative trade that brings JPY 50 billion ($459 million) to the country, making it Japan’s primary seafood export.
“They [scallops] make up the largest portion of seafood that we export, and we don’t see that demand abating,” Charles Kaufmann, president of DHL Global Forwarding Japan, said to Air Cargo World.
“There are many leading producers here with an interest to bring their premium delicacies overseas, and a reliable logistics partner is key to their market expansion plans.”
DHL’s new presence in Sapporo will allow them to provide customs support to local businesses, as well as year-round operations at Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport.
The company transported 1,000 metric tons of seafood from Japan to the rest of Europe in the first quarter of 2019 alone, the majority of which went to Hong Kong and China.
The company already has operations in Tokyo, Okinawa and Fukuoka.
