A new partnership with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten will give South Australian businesses access to more than 100 million Japanese users.
Penned during the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, the partnership will see more than 400 South Australian food, wine and beverage products featured on the online platform.
Rakuten is home to more than a quarter of Japanese e-commerce, worth $40 billion in 2020.
Globally, there are more than 1.4 billion members of Rakuten, which will run the “Tasting South Australia” campaign for the duration of the World Expo until October.
Trade and Investment Minister Joe Szakacs, who is in Osaka for the World Expo, said the partnership was “bridging the gap for South Australian companies that want to sell their products in Japan through Rakuten”.
“By leveraging platforms like Rakuten, we’re not only boosting sales of South Australian products but we’re also building the broader reputation of SA’s produce in Japan,” he said.
“This latest campaign is strategically timed to make the most of the World Expo, which will draw the attention of millions of people and runs until October this year.”
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The South Australian government previously ran campaigns with Rakuten in 2023 and 2024, which generated approximately $600,000 and $700,000, respectively.
The government said that since introducing these campaigns, vendors selling Southern Bluefin Tuna on Rakuten have increased sixfold.
The state government is also hosting an online shopfront for World Expo attendees to “Buy what you Try”, enabling them to purchase the products they experience at the event.
This includes cheeses from Adelaide Hills-based Woodside Cheese Wrights, Beerenberg jams, Coopers beer and Chaffey Bros Wine Co. wine.
