Dubbed as champion product approach, Ethiopia is set to brand its leather and leather products made of sheep skin to Japanese market and beyond.
Sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the champion product approach movement is something which is said to seek and improve Ethiopia’s image and brand the country’s finest sheep leather and finished leather products abroad.
Noriyuki Nagai, one of the four consultants hired by JICA to undertake the job of championing sheep leather to become a brand product, told The Reporter that the short term target of the champion product approach is to introduce Ethiopia’s hi-end sheep leather and leather goods to the Japanese market.
To that end, stakeholders held the second phase of the champion product approach meeting on Thursday at Harmony Hotel located behind Edna Mall. The second phase meeting deliberated on branding issues such as logo and motto, which are expected to be finalized early 2016.
Among the candidate sectors and products which the project looked at, sheep leather has become the alternative product to go with, Nagai said. “Ethiopian coffee beans exist in Japanese market. Hence, there is no way to brand coffee there. We are trying to promote sheep leather after we have checked out that the feasibility and the potential to supply the Japanese market and others,” he said.
Kimiaki Jin, chief representative of JICA Ethiopia office, said that the sheep leather has been chosen to represent Ethiopia as a new branded product for the Japanese market due to its the accessibility because of the country’s huge potential.
According to Fistum Arega, director general of the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), the branding and improving the country’s image via the sheep leather is where the government is gearing up towards.
EIC coordinates the branding project with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Leather Industry Development Institute, Ethiopian Leather Industries Association and the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association also taking part.
Currently, branding Ethiopia’s sheep leather project has involved three local businesses which are said to be “partner companies”. Leather Exotica and Enzi and ELICO Awash Tannery are the local firms which are selected for the champion product project due to their designing and production qualities respectively, according to the consultants.
Fistum said that the branding project will be scaled up further to the mass production stage after succeeding on market penetration and image building tasks. According to Fistum, champion product approach has been successful in countries like Indonesia where they had become the famous producers of Indomie noodles worldwide. He also recalled that the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan has recently sponsored the promotion of Kaizen – a renowned Japanese management philosophy to improve productivity and quality – and how the philosophy has become the norm of the manufacturing sector in Ethiopia.
Currently, Ethiopia has three coffee brands internationally recognized after years of relentless battle with international giants like Starbucks. The fine coffees of Harar, Yirgachefe and Sidama are registered as trademarks of Ethiopia.
[TheReporterEthiopia]