Japanese consumers are big macadamia fans, with awareness of how to enjoy them skewed heavily towards chocolate.
While chocolate and macadamias are a sensational match, the time is right to take our Japanese fans further along the macadamia journey and expand the repertoire of how they can be enjoyed.
We regularly share macadamia recipes with our Japanese audience via our Japanese website, Instagram and Facebook page. The recipes span numerous categories including appetisers, soups, meat, fish, rice, noodles and desserts, and this has laid the foundation on which to broaden Japanese tastes for macadamias beyond chocolate.
Recently, we dialled it up with two powerful events that leveraged the power of social media and real-life experience. The campaign reached more than 1.5 million Japanese consumers, and spectacularly exceeded its anticipated results by 970%.
The results and feedback from both events signal Japanese consumers’ willingness and enthusiasm to embrace new flavour combinations with macadamias, in what is an important insight for not only our consumer campaign, but for manufacturers considering macadamias in new product development for the Japanese market.
Twitter fans excited to #DiscoverMacadamia
We put our extensive collection of more than 300 macadamia recipes to work with a new social media campaign called #DiscoverMacadamia. Executed via our Japanese Twitter account, it was also promoted in our Japanese consumer newsletter, website and Facebook page. The activity invited fans to follow us and share their favourite macadamia recipe from our website on Twitter using the #DiscoverMacadamia hashtag for the chance to win one of 10 macadamia product gift packs.
The campaign gained more than 1,200 new Twitter followers and increased our website’s recipe pageviews by more than 360%. The #DiscoverMacadamia hashtag was used nearly 2,500 times during a one-month period.
The most viewed recipes were Gut Friendly Macadamia Banana Bread, Grilled Salmon with Orange and Black Tea Macadamia Butter Glaze, Grilled Pork with Macadamia and Peach Salsa, and Easy Macadamia Fried Rice.
Overall, sweet recipes were shared the most, followed by meat. While Japanese consumers are used to seeing macadamias in sweet dishes, macadamias in meat dishes is a new idea in this market and people were intrigued to discover the wide variety of recipes that combine the two.
This was evident in consumers’ reactions that revealed their surprise at how macadamias can be used, an eagerness to try the recipes, and the perception that macadamias make a dish “fancy”.
“I had no idea how to use macadamias in fried rice – I’d like to make it!”
“I didn’t know about macadamia butter! It has wide applications.”
“Another way of having fun – I’m going to try this.”
“I love macadamias but didn’t know they could be used in dumplings!”
“You can upgrade fried rice immediately. I’ve used cashews and peanuts but never macadamias. I will definitely try it.”
“A fancy dish that I’d like to add to my daily meals.”
“Looks pretty and fancy. I’ve never used macadamia paste so I’m very curious.”
These comments provided rich insights into how macadamias are currently perceived in this market, and how excited consumers are to discover new ways of enjoying our nut.
Oisix Salad Bar collaboration brings macadamia discovery to life
Consumers in Tokyo were offered the opportunity to discover what macadamias can bring to their favourite salad, thanks to a cross-promotion with Oisix fresh salad bars. For a limited time, Oisix customers could upgrade their salad with a free roasted macadamia topping, enabling them to experience the taste and texture enhancement first hand.
Oisix sells home delivered organic vegetables, food products and meal kits online and via catalogue. They have now opened a number of offline stores as well, with the Ebisu store in Tokyo* featuring a fresh salad bar where customers purchase salads made to order.
As a brand that is heavily invested in helping consumers make healthy and great-tasting food choices, Oisix was an ideal fit to help evolve the macadamia conversation beyond chocolate. Information leaflets were also available in-store to provide shoppers with additional macadamia facts and recipes to enjoy post-purchase.
The campaign was aimed at office workers and stay-at-home mothers located within the vicinity of the participating Oisix store, introducing them to macadamias as a healthy lunch addition. It was promoted via our Japanese website, newsletter and Facebook page Discover Macadamia, as well as Oisix’s newsletter, Twitter and Instagram stories.
Close to 1,400 people redeemed the free topping offer during the 2-week promotional period, with consumers enjoying their first macadamia and salad experience.
“The roasted flavour was tasty,” said one. “The texture was good,” remarked another. “They are delicious with salad – they are good to add as an accent of texture.”
We’re looking forward to continuing to share the full breadth of what’s possible with macadamias with our fans in this important market.
