Nebaristar®
Launching a new star of yam as a branded product
Nebaristar® in JA Tokachi Ikeda Town
01 We were amazed by the unexpectedly great result from the trial cultivation!
A seed company developed a new cultivar by crossing two types of yam, Ginkgo Yam and Chinese Yam, and registered it under the name "ネバリスター” (Nebaristar in katakana) in 2008. The first to notice this was JA Tokachi Ikeda Town in Hokkaido, which promptly started trial cultivation in 2008.
Although Ikeda Town had been cultivating Chinese Yam, the heavy clay soil had made it difficult to produce high-quality yam. However, this new cultivar grew robustly, even in such soil, and we could harvest high-quality yam unexpectedly.
As they thought they should market this product with added value, JA Tokachi Ikeda called Watari to whom they had already been supplying onions and other products.
02 After tasting it, we immediately knew, "This is it!"
Next year, in 2009, the staff at Watari conducted a tasting. Compared to Chinese Yam, this new cultivar not only had twice the characteristic stickiness but also an astonishing depth of flavor and smooth texture. As fresh produce professionals, we immediately recognized, "This is it!"
With that conviction, the big mission of introducing this product to the world began. First, since "ネバリスター” (Nebaristar in katakana) is a registered cultivar name, we needed to come up with our own brand name. Moreover, since this product was on a completely different level from traditional yams, we decided to launch a completely different promotional campaign. Then, Watari started marketing and promoting this branded product.
03 Trademark registered under the name "Nebaristar" (”根張星”)
So, we had to come up with our own brand name for the product. As the cultivar name "Nebaristar" received approval widely both inside and outside the company, we decided to explore how it might look in kanji (Japanese characters). And we consulted a calligraphy master, and the current brand name "根張星" (Nebaristar) was born, which we could trademark.
To clarify, ”ネバリスター” (Nebaristar in katakana) is the cultivar name for the yam. However, while the pronunciation is the same, Watari’s brand "根張星" is expressly limited to the products grown by JA Tokachi Ikeda Town’s farmers. Everything follows a set of guidelines created jointly by JA Tokachi Ikeda Town and Watari, from cultivation methods to storage and shipping.
Next, for our promotional activities, we had "vegetable meisters" (now called "vegetable sommeliers") taste the product and use their professional word-of-mouth to help spread the brand.
Additionally, we organized the tasting and in-store events featuring Nebaristar at supermarkets nationwide. These events provided numerous opportunities for consumers to try the product. We were confident that the number of fans would surely grow once people tasted it.
As a result, Nebaristar has now become a specialty product of Ikeda Town, and production continues to expand.
