This week, we are flying from Shanghai to Tokyo, Japan to meet Janis Arbidans.

Growing a consumer brand is hard.

Growing a consumer brand in Asia as a non-Asian entrepreneur is even harder.

But that’s what makes Janis’ journey with Ave-natur a unique story to share with you all.

It was just after the Chinese New Year when I had coffee with Janis overlooking the busy streets of Central Taipei.

Janis was in Taipei on a work trip from Japan meeting with a potential customer. Little did I know at the time that he was going to make it into one of the largest supermarket chains in Taiwan.

He just completed a year of business development, hitting up countless trade shows all over Asia and closing deals. One thing that stuck with me is how hard it was for him to set the brand’s foundation for success, i.e. 2-3 wins out of 100 leads and lots of $$$.

After almost one year, Ave-natur is a growing oat-based dairy product capturing the minds of shoppers and cafe owners.

At the cusp of their impending success, I managed to catch Janis to recap his journey so far and what makes Ave-natur a unique business.

For more than 7 years I ran an F&B trading business in Mainland China and Hong Kong. We were connecting Baltic businesses with Chinese, Hong Kong and Macau markets. We developed effective market entry strategies for our clients and executed marketing activities to grow their brands and product presence.

During this time, I also did some work for a Hong Kong-based premium food importer and distributor for fine dining and five-star hotel customers. Times were still good in Hong Kong pre-COVID. We sourced products and ingredients from New Zealand, Australia, Finland, Latvia, and the USA.

But my heart was always in growing my own brand.

That’s why, in late 2021, I partnered up with my Co-Founder to start Avenatur, a Finnish-manufactured oat milk brand.

Since day one, our vision was to build a brand with a main focus on the APAC region.

We develop our products in Finland because there are abundant local talents in R&D, great access to raw materials, and high production standards. My business partner is also based there and takes care of the production and product development side.

Why APAC?

We felt that there is a big gap in these markets, and consumers do not have enough good quality and wide-ranging oat-based products. Choices are still very limited. Of course, it depends on the market, but overall, that is the current situation in APAC.

Why Japan?

I live in Japan. Actually, when we started the company, I was in a transition period, moving away from Hong Kong and spending some time back in Europe, already knowing that Japan would be my next destination.

Japan is a very hard market to get into, especially for CPG and FMCG.

If you are a foreign brand, and you can crack the market, then it is a very good reference for the rest of the region. But again, I want to emphasise that every country is so different in terms of its regulations, consumer habits, preferences and way of doing business. So there isn’t one secret sauce of success, this is just our way!

For Avenatur, having a presence in Japan is a first step forward.

Japan has a long tradition of using Soy and Almonds in foods. Also, we can see how big the Almond and Soy milk market is here. We see the opportunity and growth potential in all sectors - food service and retail.

Japanese consumers are very cautious and selective, but once they become your consumers they will be loyal. So we are confident in market potential and what we deliver.

We are confident in offering innovative, high-quality products that can react to market needs quickly.

We dare to say that Avenatur is a quality and innovation leader in Oat-Based Dairy. Our strong USPs and continuous success in Asia demonstrate this.

Quality is strongly maintained through our production process in Finland. Despite the high cost of transport, this has worked in our favour. Our buyers and customers put a lot of trust in our brand and product safety.

Flexibility to react to market needs quickly comes from our internal decision-making processes. That helps to navigate different situations, particularly in APAC where each market has different regulatory and retail landscapes.

It depends on the market, but I want to show that oat-based products can be very tasty and enjoyable.

It can be applied in the mass market, not only for vegans or flexitarians but also for dairy consumers.

Oat-based products should be available for everyone. We want to make Ave-natur accessible and enjoyable.