From August 4 to 6 this year, Mio Tea brought Taiwanese tea from Canada to Tokyo to exhibit at CAFERES JAPAN 2026 at Tokyo Big Sight, Booth S10-26.
CAFERES is Japan’s trade show for the café and food service industry, and most visitors were restaurant and café owners, buyers, and brand representatives. For a Taiwanese tea brand that got its start in Canada, this was our first time exhibiting in Japan.
A “Sign Up First, Figure It Out Later” Beginning
To be honest, we came across the show online and decided to sign up almost right away. It was our first time, there was no precedent to follow, and nearly all of our preparation was based on imagination.
Before the show, we flew from Toronto back to Taiwan to get our teas, materials, and every last detail ready. It was a hectic stretch, but things went fairly smoothly. Then we arrived in Tokyo early to give ourselves extra time to face an exhibition hall we’d never seen.
Setting Up: The Gap Between Imagination and Reality
It’s hard to picture a booth from a floor plan alone. Once we arrived, we found the walls looked much emptier than we’d expected, so we printed extra posters on the spot to fill the gaps.
Our information signs were also printed too small. Visitors couldn’t read them from even a few steps away, so we kept adjusting as we set up. These are the kinds of things you only learn by going through it yourself.
A Cup of Taiwanese Tea, Brewed for Japan
We brought our full tea collection, prepared both hot and cold brew, so visitors could experience the different sides of Taiwanese tea at a single booth.
Since it was a summer show, the most popular hot teas were our Lychee Kiss Oolong and Pomelo Blossom Oolong. For cold brew, the favourites were Honey Black Tea and Jin Xuan Oolong.
Quite a few people from well-known major brands stopped by to taste our teas, which meant a great deal of encouragement for a small brand like ours.
The Two Hours Our Interpreter Was on Break
Being short-staffed was our biggest challenge. We hired just one Japanese interpreter to help introduce our products, and her breaks often fell right when the booth was busiest. With no one to translate, we had to push through and communicate with Japanese visitors in our own way.
Those moments were nerve-wracking, but they forced us to learn how to connect with Japanese visitors in the middle of the rush. We also came to understand that people in Japan tend to be more reserved, and trust is built little by little over time. It can’t be rushed.
What We’ll Do Differently Next Time
Our first show taught us far more than we expected. If you’re preparing to exhibit in Japan, these tips might help:
- Hire at least two interpreters so they can take turns on breaks and your booth never goes quiet at its busiest moments.
- Bring equipment to keep tea warm. Sample tea cools down quickly, and the flavour suffers.
- Print your signs and posters bigger, and bring extras. The space on-site is never quite what you imagined.
Seeing a Bigger World
Over those three days, we met suppliers and businesses from many places. Most were Japanese companies, but every business card exchanged and every conversation helped more people discover Mio Tea.
For us, it was a period of real growth as a business, and a glimpse of a much bigger world and market.
After the show, we also successfully closed a partnership: Mio Tea will soon be available in stores in Japan. We’ll share the details soon, so stay tuned!
See You in Tokyo, 2027
With this experience in hand, we’ve already signed up for next year’s CAFERES JAPAN. We hope to be even better prepared and to bring more great tea to more places.
From Taiwan, to Canada, and now to Japan, what Mio Tea hopes to do has never changed: to gently bring a little calm and joy into everyone’s day, one cup of tea at a time.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by in Tokyo and shared a cup of tea with us.
A cup of calm. A soft moment of joy.
MIO TEA