- Worcestershire's queen of puddings, Nana Lily's, expands to
Japan
- Growth into the Asian market thanks to the UK's free trade
agreements with Japan
- Foreign Office Minister celebrates Nana Lily's success on a
pre-Christmas visit to Tokyo
Japanese dessert fans will be enjoying Worcestershire's finest
puddings this Christmas after much-loved baker Nana Lily's
expands to Japan.
Nana Lily's, a family run business based in Worcester, first
began selling their delicious Christmas puddings in 2016. This
winter, families in Japan will also be able to enjoy the
company's home-made desserts thanks to support from the UK
connecting the business with a local distributor.
Nana Lily's is just one of the thousands of UK firms that are
benefitting from the two Free Trade Agreements (FTA) the UK has
with Japan, which are lowering the tariffs British companies
facing when exporting.
This includes the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for
Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trading bloc the UK joined
one year ago with the potential to boost the UK economy by £2
billion a year.
Foreign Office Minister, , is in Japan this week to
meet her counterparts and discuss further opportunities for
British businesses in the region.
Foreign Office Minister, , said:
Nana Lily's have perfected their recipes over four generations of
pudding making and I'm delighted Japanese consumers are getting
the chance to try them.
Supporting fantastic British businesses like Nana Lily's to
access new markets abroad is a key part of the government's work
overseas to drive economic growth in the UK.
This free trade is creating huge opportunities for businesses to
expand and grow, supporting British business overseas is critical
for our growth as a country.
Nana Lily's award-winning Christmas puddings have long been a hit
with local residents. Inspired by a four-generation recipe, the
business has even taken orders from the Royal Family and the
White House. In 2024, the company sold 3,000 puddings in the
run-up to Christmas, with orders set to rise to 5,000 this year.
Following success at home, the business is now expanding
overseas. In 2022, its co-founder Ellen Halpin-Barnett was
introduced to the Doitsu Centre, a Japanese retailer, at a UK
Government trade event at the Tower of London. After securing a
deal with the distributor, the Government supported Nana Lily's
expansion into the country by helping the firm to navigate
Japan's complex customs regulations. This included supporting
Nana Lily's with translation services.
Since hitting the shelves in Japan, Nana Lily's Christmas
puddings have been a huge hit with sales rising year-on-year.
More broadly, Nana Lily's international footprint continues to
expand, with further orders secured in Germany and the US.
Founder of Nana Lily's, Ellen Halpin-Barnett, said:
We're thrilled that families across Japan will be enjoying Nana
Lily's Christmas puddings this year. Japan represents an exciting
and rapidly growing market for us, and we're committed to
building on this success. Looking ahead, we see tremendous
opportunities to expand our range including with our popular
Christmas puddings and fruit cakes.
Last year, the UK joined the Comprehensive and Progressive
Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade
agreement between 12 countries which is providing further
certainty for UK businesses looking to expand to Japan.
The UK's accession to the group follows the signing of the
UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA),
which entered in force in 2021. Because of these deals, Nana
Lily's can export their puddings tariff-free, removing a tariff
of up to 25%.
The UK's relationship with Japan has continued to flourish this
year. In March 2025, the UK and Japan held an Economic 2+2
dialogue – a meeting between both countries' Foreign and Business
Ministers. The UK is the first country that Japan has held such a
dialogue with outside of the US, highlighting the close
partnership that the two countries share.
The UK's total bilateral trade with Japan is now worth over £33
billion. Japanese investment into the UK has also doubled over
the last decade, with nearly 1,000 Japanese companies sustaining
around 200,000 UK jobs. UK exports to Japan also grew
between 2024 to 2025 by nearly 9% to £16 billion.
Notes to Editors
If your business wants to sell to new customers overseas, but
find you're being blocked by the rules and regulations where they
are, the UK Government has exports experts who want to help. Let
us know via www.business.gov.uk/report-trade-barrier
