Nederlandse Vereniging in West Japan: The Foreign Buyers' Club

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• Shopping • The Foreign Buyers' Club

It is getting easier to get imported foods and other items in Japan. There are lots of stores in the Kansai area that carry them. Even so, there will always be an important role to play for The Foreign Buyers’ Club (FBC), run by the Americans Chuck & Kelly Grafft.

Using FBC is like having access to a huge international supermarket here in Japan, offering a ton of imported goods. With over 30.000 items online, there’s something for everyone! If you’d rather browse a printed catalog, just request them through their website and they send a catalog packet for free! (General Store & Deli/Learning Center)

FBC has four “stores�?. The General Store provides over 40,000 items to choose from and orders are usually made in cases. The Deli & Learning Center offers a variety of international food, and delivers in 5-7 days and also includes books, magazines, crafts, videos, DVDs and teaching materials. The BritShop for all British foods and since a few months they have an Aussie Shop for goodies from down under! Each with delivery from only 490 Yen!

The General Store

The General Store sells items in singles and by the case, with delivery in 31-33 days. Over 40,000 items and directly imported from the US. About 3,000 of these items in the catalog, another 20,000 on the website and access by request to about 20,000 more. The 2,000 most popular items can be purchased in single units for convenience or by the case for economy (savings 20-50%!).

FBC has also recently included foods for people with special dietary needs (vegetarian, kosher, as well as low-fat, low-calorie, low-carb foods) shows that they are listening to the needs of their customers. Indeed, FBC invite their customers to send them their “top ten most wanted list�? of foods from YOUR home and they will try to add what they can to their catalog.

The Deli and Learning Center

The Deli and Learning Center are run from an actual store on Rokko Island in Kobe. They offer “Food & fun from around the world.�?
The FBC Shop is open from Monday – Saturday from 9:30-17:30 (Fri & Sat till 19:30).

The Deli offers a range of dry, cool and frozen products like over 100 cheeses (from processed to gourmet), vegetables, breads (from multi grain bread, hamburger buns, bagels to pita), snacks (candy bars, chips and healthy treats), a range of Mexican fixings, easy meals (including TV dinners), desserts and meats. FBC even has frozen turkeys (up to 22 lbs!), but remember to double check the size of your toaster before ordering one!
Costco items are also available – for slightly more, but in single units and direct to your doorsteps!

From the Deli’s book section, you can get cookbooks, books and maps on Japan, travel books and a good range of about 100 different US magazines, everything delivered in 5-7 days.

The Learning Center offers over 1,000 of the most interesting and popular books, videos, games and other items to help kids learning their ABC’s and 123’s. Designed for parents and teachers with kids in the 0-7 age range there are workbooks, flashcards, and arts & craft items as well. This catalog has been equally popular with foreigners and Japanese alike.

The BritShop

1,600 British items delivered in 12-14 days! Browse the BritShop website for all your British favourites! Orders are processed on Monday.

The Aussie Shop

Get all your Aussie favourites, direct to your door every month! Barbecue Shapes, Vegemite, Nutri grain, Tim Tams, Napisan, Beetroot, Arnott’s Biscuits, Golden Circle fruits… over 5,000 items!! Orders are processed on the first Wednesday of every month – and delivered in 12-15 days.

Holiday Treats

FBC also supplies a good range of Seasonal Products, like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. Get more details about these holiday items and of current specials through their seasonal newsletters. Each newsletter is available approx. 6 weeks before the holiday.

FBC Online

Although FBC is careful to stress that they intend to remain “a local, family run business” their website is pretty comprehensive. You can currently choose from around 20,000 products to order online. To avoid security problems- orders can be taken online, but payment is done separately (by fax or phone). The first time you order you can fax your credit card details to 078-857-9005 and then check the “use my last credit card�? option when you order online in the future. Payment by furikae, cash-on-delivery and bank transfer is also accepted.

Membership

Membership of FBC is optional (membership costs 1,000 Yen per year). Members are sent new catalogs (when they are printed), as well as newsletters and service updates throughout the year.
If you do not become a member, you pay an extra 5% for each order.

Ordering and Shipping Costs

When placing orders with several different stores, be aware that they are send from totally different places. The Deli or Learning Center from Kobe, General Store direct from the US, BritShop from the UK and the Aussie Shop items are send direct from Australia to your doorsteps. So shipping fee must be payed for each order, they can’t be combined in one shipment.

Ordering online is easiest, for ordering by fax there’s a different order form for each store and regardless of ordering from both at the same time, you must write the complete delivery and payment information on each order forms.

Sometimes things get a little confused, but they do a good job in working to fix any problems or complaints you may have. Overall, you really can’t beat FBC’s great selection of imported products and commitment to expanding the catalog every year to keep their customers happy.

This article was adapted and edited from an article by Get Hiroshima.

11 March 2005 - Kjeld Duits

♦ ♦ ♦

I am trying to get a telephone number and email address for the Dutch Candy Store. Their website http://www.dutchcandystore.com is out of order and they do not answer emails at info@xooph.com.

Do you know their new telephone number and email address?

Daniel R. Ottobre Friday November 17, 2006 #
Ik heb een adres, BTW nummer, KvK nummer en een telefoonnummer:

Xooph
tav Marko van Vliet of Rene Boot
Oosterwerf 30
2804 LZ GOUDA
NEDERLAND

VAT Number: NL813754161B01
Chamber of Commerce: 24368711
Tel: (31) 018-257-3330

Kjeld Duits Friday November 17, 2006 #

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