Tokyo-based major whaling company Kyodo Senpaku Co. will open four more vending machines to increase its sales of whale meat and processed whale meat products in Tokyo and other locations by mid-February of this year. The unmanned stores are planned to allow consumers to purchase whale meat more easily, while the longer-term goal is to increase sales at supermarket stores and other outlets too. The company has already installed vending machines in Tokyo and starting next month Kyodo plan to import nearly 3,000 tons of fin whale meat annually from Iceland.
Japan’s Fisheries Agency aims to expand the nation’s whale-catch quotas in around two years’ time and from 2024, it will expand its list of three legally catchable whales to include even larger cetaceans, the exact species has yet to be confirmed.
