Sanmu City strawberry farmers and students cooperate to eliminate labor shortages and food waste

Students working on the harvest

Sorting at Washigoen

Faculty of Management and Information Sciences Department of Management Sciences Professor Yoko Kunitake and Students are playing a central role in the revitalization of Sammu City and the resolution of local issues. Since last year, the "Strawberry Project in Sammu" has been implemented in cooperation with a local strawberry garden, Nagomi Ichigoen (Chiba), located in Sammu City, Chiba Prefecture.
The strawberry season is from January to March, and the price drops around April, but the strawberries ripen earlier. Many strawberry growers are hesitant to hire workers because of the loss of income due to lower prices. Also, as the temperature rises, ripening speeds up, limiting the time available for harvesting, and if work cannot keep up, the strawberries will rot, leading to food loss. Kazuhiro Urano, representative of Nagomi ichigo-en, says that he was troubled by the high temperatures, especially in the past few years starting around April, which increased the amount of produce that leads to losses.
Therefore, Professor Kunitake, who participates in the "Sanmu Economic Gardening Promotion Council," and Nagomi ichigo-en began a project against food loss last year.
Students from Prof. Kunitake's seminar and members of the "Regional Academic Co-creation Project I" from five faculties on the Chiba Togane campus gathered at the strawberry garden five times in April from 6:00 in the morning to pick and sort the strawberries. In exchange for their help in harvesting and sorting, they received small strawberries that were out of standard size and could not be sold, and sold them on campus.

Packing on campus

POP making

The students were involved in the entire process from harvesting to reaching the consumer, including harvesting, sorting, packing, shift management for sales team members, pricing the strawberries, creating POP, and selling them. They also put a lot of thought into their sales methods, selling nearly 100 packs each day while keeping in mind the balance between supply and demand. They sold three or four varieties a day, and on the final day they sold out, using customer service talk that took into account the flavor characteristics of each variety.

Sales on campus

Group photo to commemorate sold-out

Sota Matsuo, a third-year student Faculty of Management and Information Sciences who took part in the harvesting and sales, said, "When I actually harvested at a strawberry farm, it was hard work, as the yield was large and the collection method was difficult, unlike picking strawberries privately. But I felt a sense of accomplishment when I sold the strawberries with my own hands."