HoneyBaked® Announces First International Storefront Location

ATLANTA, June 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Honey Baked Ham Company, LLC® is excited to announce that for the first time in the company's history, it will open an international retail location at the end of July 2015 in Tokyo. HoneyBaked® is partnered with Toranomon Ham Co., Ltd., who hold the rights to sell Honey Baked Hams®, turkeys, sides and desserts in Japan. While a storefront has always been in the plans for the premium food retailer, Toranomon Ham Co. has been supplying high-end hotels and restaurants, as well as selling online in Japan since the partnership began in 2013.  

"For more than half a century, HoneyBaked® has been a household name, synonymous with the quality and taste of our signature bone-in half ham and other ham products here in the United States," says Dave Keil, HoneyBaked® CEO. "Paul Kraft and Nobumitsu Tamai are strong, experienced partners and have exceeded expectations in introducing our product to the culture and consumers of Japan over the past two years. With their extensive consumer knowledge and operational expertise, we are very excited to bring HoneyBaked's® premium products and family traditions to consumers in Japan via our first retail location."

After patenting the first spiral-slicing machine, Harry J. Hoenselaar founded the HoneyBaked Ham Company® in Detroit, Michigan in 1957. The family owned and operated company now boasts over 400 locations across the United States and sells a variety of additional products including the signature Honey Baked Ham®, turkey breasts, sides and desserts. Most locations also offer catering as well as a cafe menu including fresh made sandwiches, salads and deli sides.   

"There is a great demand in the Japanese market for premium American brands and HoneyBaked® fills a market niche with its unique glazed and spiral-sliced hams," added Paul Kraft, Toranomon Ham, president and representative director. "Our goal is to continue to introduce HoneyBaked® in a locally relevant way with the establishment of a Tokyo retail store."

Ham products are widely popular in Japan, where over 35-percent of consumers purchase it as often as once a week for use in salads, sandwiches or by the slice.* Consumables, including ham, are popular gift ideas as well. Gift giving is an important part of Japanese culture and shoppers appreciate and seek out high quality brands. While there are many options within the category, HoneyBaked's® glazed bone-in hams are unlike anything currently available in Japan.

"Honey Baked Ham® has been enthusiastically received by consumers and high-end restaurants in Japan," added Kraft. "In addition to ham, shoppers will be able to choose from an assortment of sides and desserts specially designed with the Japanese palate in mind. If the decades of success of this brand are any indication, HoneyBaked® will soon find its place on family dinner tables and entertaining occasions across Japan."

*Source: Survey of Shokuniku Co. Ltd.

About The Honey Baked Ham Company, LLC®
Founded in 1957, Honey Baked Ham is a premium food retailer with more than 400 locations nationwide.  Over the years, serving Honey Baked Ham has become a tradition for millions of families. Best known for its signature sweet glazed, spiral sliced Honey Baked Ham®, Honey Baked Ham offers flavorful, moist and tender ham and turkey breast entrees, as well as a host of other fully cooked entrees, side items and desserts.

About Toranomon Ham
Toranomon Ham is a partnership formed by Paul Kraft, a former Starbucks executive in Japan and FinTech Global, a boutique investment firm led by CEO Nobumitsu Tamai, that specializes in serving mid-sized and growth oriented firms.

Contact: Ted Asbury, [email protected], 678-966-3262

SOURCE The Honey Baked Ham Company, LLC