A company with a more than 100-year history, Yamaki specializes in bringing the flavor and health benefits of Washoku to consumers both in Japan and abroad.
For 11 consecutive years, food-related exports have registered record-breaking numbers, reaching JPY 1.45 trillion in 2023. This trend is also being reflected globally, with the number of Japanese restaurants overseas more than tripling in the last decade, from 55,000 in 2013 to over 200,000 in 2023. How do you account for the continued rise and record-breaking levels in Japanese food exports and the growth in popularity of the country's cuisine in recent years?
I think it’s best to start with a bit of background. In 2013, UNESCO registered traditional Japanese cuisine (Washoku) as a part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Not long after that, at Expo 2015 in Milan, people from all over the world had the opportunity to experience Washoku in Europe.
Through these two events, Washoku quickly developed a reputation for being sustainable and healthy, and also for subtle seasonings that bring out the inherent flavors of the other ingredients. Opinion leaders are particularly drawn to these aspects of Japanese cuisine—and at the same time, as foodies they are always looking for new and exciting culinary experiences to try. People like this, who have experienced Japanese food culture in an international setting and have then brought it back to their home countries, have made a real contribution to the popularity of Washoku around the globe.
You mentioned that the number of Japanese restaurants has tripled in the past decade, but I don’t think we are necessarily talking about traditional Japanese restaurants. Rather than straight Washoku, a lot of new restaurants offer a fusion of Japanese traditions and American food culture. This is a new category that I believe is driving the demand for Japanese cuisine.
This is a fantastic trend to see. Globally, I think Japanese cuisine is still seen as “ethnic,” but this fusion with local culture, tastes and customs can help bring it into the mainstream. At Yamaki, we consider this an important way of promoting Japanese food, as well as one of our key opportunities for growth.
Of course, I don’t mean to denigrate traditional Japanese food at all. It’s just that new combinations are the lifeblood of our industry. A sizable market can only be built on a really solid foundation, and it is that combination with traditional culture that will expand the world of Japanese cuisine in the future.
If we switch the focus to the Sustainable Development Goals now. The Ministry of the Environment estimated that food loss was approximately 5.23 million tons in 2021, but there has been no real data since then. This came at a time when consumers wanted companies to take action, and companies have now begun to respond. One example is Lawsons, who has partnered to sell unsold food to local pig farms, reintroducing products into the food supply chain. What initiatives is Yamaki undertaking to reduce food waste, and how is your company reacting to consumer demands for more sustainable packaging?
In terms of packaging, the biggest pain point for consumers is when they have to throw something away. We have listened to our customers, and have been investing in equipment to make packaging smaller and more resource efficient since 2019. It used to be common wisdom that a product had to have a certain weight and heft to it. These days, however, it is all about reducing waste and throwing nothing away, so we have shifted our policies in that direction. This has entailed a certain amount of capital expenditure, but we have struck a good balance between profit and sustainability.
The result of all this is that Yamaki has reduced CO2 emissions by more than 20 percent since the 2013 fiscal year. Japan has a national target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent by 2030, and our industry sector has been told to reduce CO2 emissions by 38 percent. At the rate we are going as a company, that goal is likely to be within our reach.
Our flagship products are all fish-based, particularly skipjack tuna, which is a sustainable ingredient. Worldwide, more than two million tons of skipjack tuna are caught every year, but the population is stable. On top of that, the process of turning skipjack tuna into Katsuobushi (boiled and dried-smoked skipjack tuna) generates almost no waste. The water it is boiled in is used as an ingredient in other products, and the bones and innards become fertilizer. In terms of efficient use of resources, Katsuobushi is way up there.
Yamaki’s policy is to use all of our ingredients and throw nothing away. Everything ends up in some kind of product. We are also constantly researching how to improve both the flavor and the health benefits of our Katsuobushi and Dashi products. That is our approach to creating shared value (CSV).
In January, we announced our long-term management vision, YAMAKI Vision 2035, which incorporates the goal of becoming “Yamaki, the Katsuobushi ＆ Dashi Company of the World” by 2035. The value we provide is in our creation of shared value, specifically in the way we balance economic value with social value.
We see our role in CSV as being to contribute to three types of health: physical health, mental health and the health of the global environment. We want to approach CSV and enhance our corporate value in a way that only we can, not just as a food producer but specifically as a manufacturer of Katsuobushi and Dashi products.
We are contributing to the health of the global environment with initiatives related to manufacturing and production, such as waste reduction and resource conservation. This allows us to provide value to a wide range of stakeholders, including customers, partners, local communities, and current and former employees and their families.
Kappo Shiradashi is your liquid seasoning, and in recent financial results, sales were up 113 percent on the previous year. You have seen 13 years of consecutive sales growth and have a 31 percent market share in the Shiradashi category. Spring and summer of 2023 saw Dashi demand skyrocket as a compliment for soba noodles. Yamaki has been crowned the king of the Dashi market. What do you attribute to the success of your Kappo Shiradashi, and what strategies do you plan to use in order to replicate the success of this product overseas?
It has been 30 years since the launch of Kappo Shiradashi—a Dashi-based liquid seasoning that has a rich umami characteristic and mellow flavors that enhance the taste of any Japanese dish, making it a versatile ingredient and the No.1 selling Shiradashi in Japan. I was in charge of the sales department at the time, back when our annual sales were still around USD 700,000. We spent more than a decade after that working to increase sales, with a heavy focus on first-time customers. As a result, our sales have increased dozens of times, and have been growing for the last 13 years.
It is pretty unusual for a consumer to take home an ingredient they have never tried before and incorporate it into their cooking. This is the same all over the world. People experience new dishes, ingredients and flavors when they are eating out, and if they like what they are tasting, then they will start making it at home. We consciously repeated this process in order to entice first-time customers.
Kappo Shiradashi can be used in all kinds of Japanese, Chinese and Western dishes, but the feedback we were getting from first-time customers was that they would never use the whole bottle, or that they didn’t know how to use it at all. We needed to show people the versatility of our product, which we did through TV commercials, promotions and PR campaigns. Once people realized the potential of Kappo Shiradashi, we found we were hitting a repeat customer rate of almost 35 percent. That is really good, but still doesn’t match products like soy sauce and mentsuyu dipping sauce, which have rates closer to 80 or 90 percent. While we still have a way to go, I think the most important thing we have done so far is just persevere. The key to our growth has been honest and constant communication with our users.
For Japanese people, the value and appeal of Kappo Shiradashi is as Dashi. For that market it is an established category, easy to talk about and easy to understand. The situation is somewhat different in other countries, where it is very important for us to identify what the value-add of the product is for local people.
For example, in Japan, Katsuobushi is a comforting aroma, the smell of home. Americans say it smells smoky. Not even fishy, but smoky. It’s amazing the way something as basic as a smell can be perceived completely differently depending on the country and its norms.
Returning to your question, we have to find a way of linking traditional Japanese condiments to the local tastes in each country. Managing that feat is crucial to our growth. All around the world, everybody wants to eat food that is delicious and healthy. But there needs to be a willingness to try new things. Tourists visiting Japan present a significant opportunity for us as new users who are already in the mindset to try our products.
Left: Kappo Shiradashi / Right: Men Tsuyu
The current economic and societal situation in Japan makes it necessary for Japanese producers to move towards foreign markets for long-term growth. Traditionally the destination was China, which accounted for 20 percent of exports in 2022, but now the issue comes from Chinese lawmakers' blanket ban on Japanese seafood, which has led to a huge decrease in exports, especially among all the uncertainty as to when the ban will be lifted. Which markets for Yamaki now show the greatest growth potential?
We are looking forward to entering markets in East Asia and Western countries where Dashi, or soup stock, is already well established, but our first priority has always been the United States. The U.S. population is young and growing, and there is a wonderful culture of creating new dishes. We are also anticipating greater health consciousness in the U.S. market going forward.
We have been exporting our products since the 1970s, selling through distributors and grocery stores. But a local base is really essential when we are introducing people to our products. That’s why we established a factory in Portland, Oregon, in 2018, to manufacture products for the U.S. market. In 2022, we opened an office in Chicago to offer a direct channel of communication with consumers. We will repeat this process of building out our manufacturing bases as we look to create new markets going forward.
Dashi
What message from your company would you like to convey to overseas consumers?
Going back to what I was talking about at the beginning of the interview, our mission as a company is to deliver good flavors and good health to customers around the world through Katsuobushi and Dashi, which are so important as the foundation of traditional Japanese cuisine.
Our long-term management vision, YAMAKI Vision 2035, has us becoming “Yamaki, the Katsuobushi ＆ Dashi Company of the World” in Katsuobushi and Dashi by 2035. There is so much potential value in Dashi, so readers can look forward to more from Yamaki in the future.
And of course, once readers visit Japan and experience the many local cultures and cuisines it has to offer, we hope they will take those experiences home with them and incorporate them into their own food culture.
* Washoku: Japanese dish and/or Japanese traditional food culture that values the taste of the ingredients and the seasonality, registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013.
* Katsuobushi: Katsuobushi is boiled and dried-smoked skipjack tuna, classified either as arabushi or karebushi according to the production process. One of the traditional Japanese foods that can be stored for a long time. Sometimes it means Katsuobushi flakes.
* Dashi: Japanese broth made by soaking Katsuobushi flakes and/or dried brown algae (kelp) in water, or by boiling them. These contain extracted umami flavors and are nutritional. These are indispensable ingredients for Japanese cooking.
For more information, visit: https://yamaki-global.com/
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