Japan’s retail sales have suffered from anaemia for some years with meagre spurts of growth followed by sudden declines. Inflation has been much talked about but hard to spot, meaning intensive price competition and profit margin squeeze for manufacturers. Some canny companies have however been looking further afield into new channels and routes to market. As anyone who visits Japan soon realises, the country is awash with offices, warehouses and factories; according to official economic statistics there are over 5.5 million such establishments, employing over 57 million people. Whilst there has been much publicity recently about “karoshi” or overwork, the vast majority of folk slave away loyally, often well over 50 or more hours a week. A captive market for entrepreneurially minded food companies. Selling to offices is not new. Yakult was the pioneer with its famous squads of ladies, pushing bik