I would like to start by thanking everyone who bought Koi and supported us on social media this trip, we had one of the most successful trips since we started Quality Nishikigoi so we are really happy.
The big difference about this trip was we really sold some very high-class Koi, the level was amazing. We really didn’t expect that. Every trip to Japan is never the same so you never expect to sell a certain amount of Koi, or hit a certain level in sales because the Koi business is really volatile and with the troubles in Europe, many people just didn’t want to buy a lot of Koi which is 100% understandable. So, we really didn’t know what to expect and after decades in the business we assume nothing.
However, we had a great trip. Sales into Europe, The Middle East , UK and America. It was quite the experience. Not just smaller Koi either. Koi up to 105cm and quite a lot of them.
A massive thanks to Brian, AJ, and Ryan from Fitz Fishponds in New Jersey, who we partner with in the USA. We had over 20 clients with us in Japan all from the USA and also 6 from the UK. We left the UK on the 16th of October and Japan only opened their doors on October the 11th. So, it was all a little rushed to get organised. Brian and his team took their clients around while I finished up with the UK customers then we joined up together to get it done!
Our clients harvested around 6 Mud Ponds so a big thank you to Saito San from Shintaro Koi Farm who makes this possible, and everything else the entire family do for us.
As one of the very few who managed to get to Japan during the pandemic, this trip was very different.
During the pandemic myself and Brian from Fitz Fishponds had the entire mountains to ourselves. The breeders were still very busy with online sales and supplying wholesalers from around the world but they had a lot of down time and we got unlimited time with them…
This trip was a lot like pre pandemic trips. The mountains were very busy this time. Dealers from all over the world were back and buying Koi, I would say it was around 40% of what I have seen it before.
One of the other good things about this trip is that there was an abundance of Koi for sale. I would say 95% of the breeders in Niigata had plenty of Koi for sale. Usually many have sold out to wholesale companies and other regular clients. It was nice to be able to go to different places and find lots of Koi for sale.
Also, the exchange rate was the best it had been for a long time, well over 15 years If I remember correctly.
We were in Japan for just under a month and now the paperwork part of the job starts.
Making sure we documented all the Koi we bought and sold, which Koi are being shipped home and which Koi will be staying in Japan for another growing season. We now have to get a count on the boxes, then arrange a date to have them shipped back to the UK.
This means making the space at the shop and getting everything in place to import the fish. It’s not straight forward. The UK winter never helps!
The fish are expected back into the UK sometime in the first 2 weeks of December.
They will then be quarantined until we are happy they are ready to go. We are very lucky at Quality Nishikigoi to have our own dedicated Quarantine facility, so the Koi can be watched over and treated accordingly, and most importantly, rested!
Thank you also to all our Telegram clients who bought every day from pictures and video I posted in our group. I will be opening it up for pond questions when we are not in Japan. Will have a look about how to do that.
I was a little disappointed at the content I did for YouTube, I was just so busy with sales and clients with us in Japan. I really wanted to get loads as being in Japan is an ideal opportunity to get a lot of content that I know my viewers like. I am looking into a trip just for YouTube content at some point so we can hit it really big. Apologies.
Instgram was really good while in Japan, the Quality Nishikigoi account and the Koitrips account were exploding! so good to see.
Regarding Koitrips, we are now back in the swing of getting people back to Japan. If you are interested in a buying trip to Japan please head over to Koitrips.com and get in touch with us via the site or email us.
