"The King of Foreign Food Imports"

Using FBC is like having access to a huge American supermarket here in Japan, offering a ton of imported goods. FBC has two "stores". The General Store provides over 40,000 items to choose from and orders are usually made in bulk. The Corner Store offers a smaller variety of food than the general store, but delivers within a week and also includes books, magazines, toys, videos and teaching aids.

The General Store

The General Store has items by the case (from 3 to 48 units). The larger the case, the more the savings: 12-20% cheaper than if you order them from the Corner Store.
So, if you want the cheapest prices but your LDK apartment just can't contain 24 (16oz) jars of mayonnaise, why not get together with a few friends- share the case, and split the price.
If that sounds like too much hassle, you could order singles or tri-packs from the General Store for slightly more. FBC has also recently included foods for people with special dietary needs (vegetarian, kosher, as well as low-fat, low-calorie 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.

One of the many good features of the General Store is the availability of Springfield "house brand" products which provide high quality goods for 20-50% less than the brand name goods.
In recent years they also include some Costco products which are reasonably priced (most are under the Kirkland brand). For example, you can get a case (12 boxes) of Springfield brownie mix for ¥3,571 compared to Betty Crocker for ¥5,741 (and just as delicious if you ask this brownie expert).

Holiday Treats From Home

FBC also supplies a good range of Seasonal Products. Halloween is coming up, why not order a big pumpkin to carve at home, in class, or with friends. They are not quite as big as you can get at home, but easier to cut than Japanese pumpkins. Or buy all your bite size candies and sweets to give away to trick-or-treaters.

Homesick? How about treating yourself to a complete turkey dinner with all the fixings! for Thanksgiving or Christmas, ordering some greeting cards and decorations, or calendars.
Looking ahead to Easter, egg-dyeing kits, Easter Bunnies, Chocolate Easter Eggs and Easter Baskets are all available from FBC.

Get more details about these holiday items and of current specials through their convenient fax back service. Just dial (003501), and after the tone dial (#287-078-857-9005*01##) and they'll fax you currently available specials and holiday items. First . The Halloween Newsletter is available from September 25, Thanksgiving and Christmas newsletters from the end of October, and the Easter Newsletter from March.

The Corner Store

The Corner Store is run from an actual store in Kobe. Split between the Deli and The Learning Center it offers "food, books and educational fun."

In the Deli food department, prices are a little more expensive than if ordered in bulk from the General Store, but orders do arrive within a week instead of a month. The Deli offers a range of dry, cool and frozen products like cheeses (from processed to gourmet), vegetables, breads (hamburger buns, bagels and 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 20 lbs!), but remember to double check the size of your toaster before ordering one!

The Learning Center, a new department of the Corner Store, is chock-o-bloc full of teaching resources, childrens' books and videos, games, and stickers. Most materials are aimed at teaching children who are learning English as their mother tongue, although there are some materials for older second language learners.

From the Learning Center's book section, you can get cookbooks, reference books, computer software, books and maps on Japan, travel books and a good range of magazines, as well as fitness, instructional and entertainment videos (mostly aimed at kids).

The Brit Shop
Run in coordination with FBC, get all your British products in a few weeks from your order.

The Aussie Shop
Similar to the Brit Shop, even harder to get items in Japan such as Vegemite.

FBC Express
If there is something you want from the US that can't be shipped to Japan, use the FBC address in the US and get your products shipped through their service. I had an espresso machine and some games shipped over and it was fast and convenient and cheaper than normal airmail quotes from American companies. It is really a great service!

FBC Online

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. Another bonus of membership is that they keep track of your orders and will send a record of everything you ordered previously (in either store) on request. This saves time on future orders as you then don't have to search for the product codes for your favorite items in the catalog. If you do not become a member, you pay an extra 5% for each order.

FBC's payment policy asks customers to pay for the total of their order when the order is made (even if availability is not confirmed). So if you order and pay for a product which is temporarily unavailable, or discontinued, you are given a credit for future orders.

When placing orders with both the General Store AND the Corner Store, be aware that they are staffed by different people. The corner store and general store therefore have two different order forms and regardless of ordering from both at the same time, you must write the complete delivery and payment information on both forms.

Another problem people run into at times with the Deli is if you have a mixed order of frozen and regular items. If you don't want to pay the higher charge for a frozen item in your order, you can ask them to ship it to you in the regular box and you will plan to eat it soon after it arrives. This is of course not recommended for things like ice-cream! But I have done this when ordering 1 box of veggie burgers with my non-frozen items, it saves about ¥500 in extra shipping charges.

Sometimes things get a little confused, but considering it is such a large company, 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.

One site which is gaining popularity offering costco products is the flying pig. It is also worth a look.