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A Japanese biscuit is a confectionery delight, more related to a crisp American cookie than a buttery base for southern-style gravy. Whether layered with chocolate, shaped into artistic designs or flavored with matcha or azuki, Japanese biscuits share a key ingredient – more than 90 percent are made with U.S. Western White (WW) wheat, a blend of U.S. soft white (SW) and white club (WC) wheat.

To better understand how U.S. wheat farmers safely grow the high-quality wheat they need, delegates from the Japan Biscuit Association (JBA) visited the Pacific Northwest in October. The trade delegation was organized by U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) with support from the Washington Grain Commission, the Idaho Wheat Commission and the Oregon Wheat Commission.

“Any growth in Japanese biscuit sales means direct growth in the sales of U.S. WW wheat,” said Rick Nakano, USW country director in Japan. “Since U.S. WW wheat has almost exclusive market share of the Japanese confectionery market, we wanted these manufacturers to learn more about U.S. wheat production and quality, including how U.S. farmers use conservation-minded, sustainable farm practices.”

Connecting Customers with the U.S. Wheat Supply Chain

A highlight was the team’s direct engagement with dedicated family farmers, whose commitment defines U.S. wheat quality. In Washington, the team toured Washington State University’s research greenhouse and visited WGC Commissioner Art Schultheis’s fields near Pullman. In Idaho, Commissioner Cliff Tacke’s family hosted a farm tour and lunch, letting the team ask questions and see their farming practices firsthand.

The mission also provided insights into the highly efficient U.S. grain supply chain and logistics. The delegation visited the HighLine Grain Growers Shuttle Loading Facility, the Lewis-Clark Terminal (the largest grain storage facility on the inland river system) and the Lower Granite Dam, underscoring the vital role the Columbia-Snake River system plays in delivering wheat safely and on time to global customers.

To reinforce U.S. quality and safety standards, the team also toured the OMIC laboratory and TEMCO Kalama terminal. There, they saw how each shipment undergoes strict testing, including chemical residue analysis, to ensure U.S. wheat meets or exceeds Japanese specifications.

“The JBA team members expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to look over the entire supply chain from farms to export,” Nakano said. “They found that U.S. wheat is grown by good and passionate family growers with safe farm practices and the harvested wheat is handled by efficient transportation, followed by strict testing of quality.”

The comprehensive trade mission successfully closed the loop for the JBA executives, linking the soft and mellow taste of their final product back to the dedication of the U.S. family farm. This deepened understanding of the safety, quality and reliability of the U.S. wheat supply chain will further support JBA members in expanding their biscuit offerings, directly fueling the continued growth of U.S. wheat exports to Japan.