Marc Matsumoto
Consulting
Cross-cultural market strategy between Japan and the world.
Food does not cross borders through translation alone. It has to make sense within the way people shop, cook, eat, and think about it.
Selected case studies
Strategy made tangible
Hakutsuru
Helping a centuries-old sake maker communicate its portfolio to drinkers, buyers, and trade partners outside Japan.
Client since 2018 · Website direction, content, and photography Read the case study
Hikari Miso
Turning a familiar Japanese staple into useful everyday cooking ideas for audiences abroad.
Strategy, recipes, writing, styling, and photography Read the case studyHow I help
Japan market entry
For international food and beverage brands entering Japan, I help teams understand the market, the consumer, the category, and the cultural assumptions that can make a familiar product feel unfamiliar.
Japanese brands going abroad
For Japanese makers expanding overseas, I help translate the value of a product into positioning, product strategy, recipes, photography, and content that make sense in the target market.
Food market research and trends
I combine on-the-ground observation with cultural and commercial context, helping leadership teams understand what is changing in Japan and what those changes mean for their business.
Selected consulting work
We have worked with Hakutsuru since 2018, leading the redesign of its global website and producing photography and content for audiences outside Japan.
We have developed recipes and digital strategy that help cooks abroad understand how miso fits into everyday cooking rather than treating it as a single-purpose ingredient.
Japan food-trends research
We led a multiyear research project for one of the world's largest confectionery companies, identifying emerging food trends across Japan for its global leadership.
Global Food Pro
I do this work through Global Food Pro, the consultancy I co-founded. Our projects combine local market intelligence with cultural fluency across research, brand strategy, product development, and content.