Rosey’s Mark Managing Partner Ina Abadjieva with first business trip in Japan

In this post we share about the exciting and long-awaited business trip to Japan of our co-founder and Managing Partner in Business Development and Sales, Ina Abadjieva.

The 20-day trip took place in June. The occasion was the official trade delegation of the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food of the European Union, Mr. Christophe Hansen. Our small family-owned Bulgarian rose food company was the only chosen representative from Bulgaria to showcase its products as part of a special selection of European food and beverages for the Japanese market, presented under the tagline “Enjoy, it’s from Europe!”.

Ina shares her impressions of the 7-day program with the European Commissioner’s team in Tokyo and Osaka from June 8th to 13th:

“It was an extremely useful participation for us, which will contribute to the development of the distribution of our Rosey’s Mark rose products on the Japanese market. The organization was at an extremely high level, and the program was busy to maximize the opportunities.

We were 103 companies from Europe, including representatives of associations – national and European, from various product categories, such as soft and alcoholic beverages, dairy, meat products, olive oil, processed products, fresh fruits and vegetables. This was the largest delegation that the European Research Executive Agency has organized so far for the agricultural sector. In selecting companies, the European Commission was guided with focus on products with protected geographical indication (PGI), organic products, sustainable farming practices. These are the accents that the EU considers competitive advantages, along with strict control over production and the stability of the EU as a commercial and political partner.

The official delegation was led in two directions – commercial and political. The program for the 103 companies included visits to supermarkets, a seminar part with presentations, sharing good examples of European companies that have successful experience with distribution on the Japanese market, such as Irish meat and Italian wines, organized B2B meetings with Japanese importers, distributors and stores, and a visit to EXPO OSAKA 2025.

Commissioner Hansen, for his part, led meetings with the Minister of Agriculture of Japan and worked towards improving the administrative framework and procedures to facilitate the import of European food into Japan. Commissioner Hansen took time to hear the challenges of business first-hand through meetings with the delegates by sector.

One of the pleasant surprises personally for me was that there is a Bulgarian shop next to the REA office in Brussels, from where it turned out that part of the organizing team buys rose jam as a favorite product, they shared in personal talks.”

In addition to Ina being our representative in the trade mission of the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Rosey’s Mark products were selected for another European initiative on the occasion of the 6-month world exhibition EXPO OSAKA 2025, which takes place from April to October 2025 in Osaka, Japan. This is a temporary pop-up shop in Tenshiba Park, presenting a selection of European food products as part of the EU Food Festival initiative. The presentation lasts until August 10th 2025 and is a unique opportunity for Japanese and international visitors of Osaka to get to know selected food and drinks from Europe. We are proud of the fact that three Rosey’s Mark products are included in the selection – these are rose water for cooking and drinks, loose rose tea and rose jam. In addition to seeing the products, guests of the European Festival in Osaka have the opportunity to taste them, too.

We combined the intensive program of the European delegation in Tokyo and Osaka with an official trade presentation of our products under the Rosey’s Mark brand at the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Tokyo. Our guests – Japanese companies interested in offering our products on the Japanese market – were personally welcomed by the Ambassador of Bulgaria in Japan, Mrs. Arabadzhieva. To our great joy, the history of the Bulgarian rose, our company’s vision of the role of the rose in food, the quality and taste of our products aroused Japanese interest and opened the door for discussions towards building new future partnerships through which Rosey’s Mark can reach more Japanese consumers.

“We are grateful for the assistance and hospitality provided by the Bulgarian Embassy. For a small family company like ours, this is valuable support, especially in the form of the embassy’s guarantee for the reliability of our company – a key factor favoring our ability to work with Japanese companies. The guests of the event had the opportunity to try cold brew iced tea with roses, yogurt with rose jam and our dark chocolates with roses and rose oil. Our new product – sugar-free dark chocolate with roses – also provoked great interest.”

Ina took the opportunity during this business trip to Japan to meet in person also with our current sales partners in Tokyo, as well as to visit and see firsthand the two stores in Tokyo that have been offering Rosey’s Mark products for the past year.

It remains our mission and honor to work as ambassadors of our country with intriguing and sought-after products by the demanding Japanese customer, proudly produced in Bulgaria. Thank you for being with us on the journey!