Japanese tea manufacturer Maruzen Tea is the first company in the Asian country to invest in Morocco's tea industry. The Shizuoka-based firm (southern Japan) is teaming up with a local enterprise in the Kingdom to produce tea products and promote green tea in both Europe and America, repots Mainichi Shimbun, one of the major newspapers in Japan. The Japanese company invested 20 percent of its founding capital for the creation of the joint venture, dubbed Maruzen Tea Morocco (SARL). The decision was taken, after Mazuren Japan realized that the North African Kingdom was «an international hub for tea products coming from Kenya and other locations worldwide», wrote the same source. The Moroccan-Japanese joint venture was launched in February, 2018 and a plant will start producing tea in Morocco, in November. «Not many people overseas know tea is a staple product of Japan. I want to improve the awareness of Japanese tea by establishing a presence in Morocco», president of the Japanese company Katsutoshi Furuhashi told the newspaper. For Furuhashi, the company's objective is to expand export routes for the Shizuoka tea and having a plant in Morocco will help the Japanese company attract new buyers. According to the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Murazen is the first Japanese company to enter the Moroccan tea industry through its recent joint venture.
