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For European food and beverage brands planning business expansion in Japan, trade shows are often the default strategy. They are familiar, well-established, often part of subsidized government programs, giving brands the confidence of joining a national pavilion. Trade shows continue to be a powerful promotional event format, especially for gathering early-stage feedback and exploring a market. In fact, trade shows have never been more popular among food and beverage brands and exporters.

However, while trade shows offer visibility and easy access, they are not the ultimate solution—especially for brands pursuing long-term strategic partnerships and consistent international business development, aiming for growth with the right partners.

In our work at TOO International, supporting European F&B brands in Japan, we have observed that curated B2B events—invitation-only tasting sessions or presentation events with selected guests aligning with your brand and goals—can often yield more focused, qualified opportunities. These events support a brand’s international market entry and expansion strategy, align with Japanese buyer expectations, and enhance product and brand management.

This article explores why curated events matter, how to implement them successfully, and how they differ from other strategies and solutions for entering or expanding in foreign markets like Japan.

Japanese food and beverage distributors have long relied on primary market research—attending international trade shows, conducting competitor pricing analysis, and holding in-depth brand research discussions—before forming new partnerships.

But in the current market:

Consequently, buyers are overwhelmed with choices. For imported brands, this has significantly raised the bar. Cold outreach and unsolicited contact are increasingly ineffective, especially in Japan where trust, alignment with customer requirements, and a brand’s reputation are critical factors.

While most Japanese buyers have clear procurement strategies, many import brands still approach the market with unclear positioning or a lack of strategy.

This often leads to unsatisfactory results on the brand’s side:

As unsolicited outreach becomes less effective, it is increasingly important to take a more thoughtful, targeted approach that aligns with how Japanese buyers prefer to engage.

In this environment, personalized, experience-driven engagement can help your brand stand out. This is where curated B2B events play a key role in localized strategy and strategic brand development.

For more on how buyer expectations are changing, see our recent article: Market Dynamics in Japan’s F&B Retail Distribution (2025)

At TOO International, we define a curated B2B event as a privately organized, invitation-only product presentation, typically including a tasting session, designed for a highly specific target audience who match your brand’s target profile. Unlike trade shows, these are tailored events—aligned to your product category, strategic goals, and ideal customer profile.

These guests typically include potential distributors:

Curated events create a platform to:

Because physical tasting and sensory experience are so important in the food and beverage industry—especially when selling internationally—these events are uniquely effective at aligning your brand’s offering with local expectations.

Many exporters assume that once they have found a local distributor, the rest—including product localization, marketing, and brand education—will be handled for them. But this often comes with trade-offs like:

This is especially true when relying entirely on a distribution partner to carry out brand positioning without your input.

Curated events can help you:

These events work especially well alongside other market entry and international business development efforts like product segmentation or STP strategy (segmentation, targeting, and positioning).

Whether you are planning international market entry or already have an importer, curated events can be powerful in several scenarios:

These events are not about volume—they are about creating value through branding and communication.

At TOO International, we have organized events for brands, including in collaboration with their Japanese importer (see point 3 above)—for their importer’s clients. See a video summary here:

Use trade shows when you want exposure or first-glance simple feedback, contacts to follow. Use curated events when you want clarity, control, qualified leads, and actionable feedback. For a deeper comparison of event strategies, see our article on how to get the most out of trade shows in Japan.

When Japanese buyers evaluate new brands, they typically want to know:

Curated B2B events help answer these questions in ways that other formats cannot:

These events also allow you to gather qualitative market research and primary customer research information directly, which supports your product launch strategy and future marketing and brand management activities. They can also help assess your serviceable addressable market more clearly by observing interest levels firsthand.

A curated B2B tasting event is more than just a gathering—it is a powerful tool to identify and validate qualified leads, as well as refine your positioning and sales support strategy to connect with distribution partners who are ideally aligned with your brand.

Here is a more detailed framework to help you succeed:

Pasta Brand B2B Event – Tokyo, 2024

In a highly saturated market, we created a curated tasting event with chef demonstrations and localized brand presentation. Attendees included interested importers. The event resulted in multiple follow-up negotiations and distribution opportunities.

Italian Tomato Brand – Tokyo, 2020

Despite the initial limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, this curated event brought together potential distributors for retail, foodservice, and industrial sectors. The product’s compatibility with vertical product differentiation strategies facilitated the resumption of discussions, leading to sustained business growth and channel expansion.

Curated B2B events may not generate headlines like international exhibitions, but in Japan—where product experience, clear positioning, and long-term alignment matter most—they can be the difference between being considered and being chosen by the right fit for your brand and your goals.

If you are serious about expanding your business in Japan and looking for strategic brand development approaches that go beyond awareness, curated events are worth your attention.

We speak from experience. These insights are based not on theory, but on more than a decade of direct work with F&B brands—running events, joining trade shows, crafting distribution plans, and driving results.

At TOO International, we specialize in helping European food and beverage brands succeed in Japan through focused, local execution. Whether you are developing your international business expansion roadmap or fine-tuning your product and brand management strategy, we can help design events that create real results.

If you are considering a curated B2B event or would like to assess your current market entry or expansion strategy, we would be happy to discuss how to support your goals. You can also explore more articles and case studies on our Insights page.