KIKKOMAN CORPORATION: MULTIPLE MILESTONES HIGHLIGHT A CENTURY OF QUALITY
Global food giant Kikkoman Corporation just marked the 100th anniversary of its incorporation in Japan, but the company is even prouder of its achievements overseas.
Yuzaburo Mogi, Honorary CEO and Chairman of the Board of Kikkoman Corporation, is a nigh ageless embodiment of his company’s philosophy, and also the firm’s most energetic spokesman.
“This is a time of anniversaries,” Mogi says, beaming. “We just celebrated the 100th anniversary of the establishment of what is now Kikkoman Corporation. Although our business goes back centuries, we legally incorporated in 1917.”
Asked about the company’s century of changes, Mogi says it’s more important to talk about what has not changed: “Our focus on consumers has been at the center of Kikkoman’s approach since the beginning.” He notes that even before its legal incorporation, the soy sauce brewer set up a research laboratory.
“Our research facility worked constantly to improve and unify the quality of our products,” he says proudly. “Quality for the end consumer became our guiding principle. And that has never changed.”
From Japan to the World
Mogi notes that this year also marks the 45th anniversary of the company’s first overseas plant in Walworth, Wisconsin and the 20th anniversary of its Folsom, California plant. The two facilities have helped make Kikkoman a household name in North America.
But Kikkoman is a Japanese company. Surely the Japanese plants are more important?
“Kikkoman is a global company,” he corrects. “One with a proud Japanese heritage. But our overseas markets contribute more to our sales and profits. America is very important, and Europe and Asia are growing rapidly.”
Mogi smiles again, for there are more celebrations to discuss. “At the end of last year we marked the 20th anniversary of our European flagship plant in the Netherlands, which is our production base for the region.” He points out that the European and American markets are vastly different. While the U.S. has regional variations in culinary styles, in general “American”-style cooking is more similar than different. Not so with Europe.
“Each country in Europe has a different food culture, and some have more than one,” he explains. “Because Kikkoman is so highly consumer-oriented, that means respecting, celebrating, and becoming a part of 20 or 30 different food cultures. We are constantly developing recipes and different ways to use our products that will enhance each different local cuisine.”
A Taste for Growth
His approach must be working, because European sales have been growing in double digits for over a decade. Growth is the name of the game in Asia as well. Although the company now has factories and/or sales offices in Taiwan, Thailand, China, the Philippines, and Australia, Kikkoman’s ongoing Asian expansion began with a plant in Singapore. However, Mogi says they are too busy meeting growing Asian demand to think about the 35th anniversary of this plant in 2020.
“Asian consumers already have their own local seasonings that are similar to soy sauce,” he notes. “However, they are not accustomed to the richly flavored, aromatic sauce that is the hallmark of Kikkoman. We are already seeing solid growth in these markets, and I expect even greater results in the future.”
For a company that has been around in one form or another for centuries, it is inspiring to hear the chairman talk seriously about “the next hundred years.” Mogi is constantly looking to the future, envisioning more growth in today’s markets and the prospect of opening up new markets in South America and Africa in the decades to come. But some things, he points out, will never change. “Even a hundred years from now, our focus will still be on the consumer,” he says.
Yuzaburo Mogi is a descendant of one of the founding families of Kikkoman, which is one of the oldest continually running businesses in Japan. He became company President in 1995, was named Chairman in 2004, and assumed the title of Honorary CEO and Chairman of the Board in 2011. Mogi holds an MBA from Columbia University.
www.kikkoman.com