Kikkoman: Market Maturity, Globalization, Diversification
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Shoyu (soy) had come to Japan with the arrival of Buddhism, a teaching that turned Japanese from meat based to vegetable based flavorings. It was brought by a Japanese Zen Buddhist who studied in China. Noda became a major center for shoyu manufacturing in Japan because of its rich agricultural kanto plain and strategic location. The Mogi family was the one who began brewing shoyu in Noda and has maintained an exceptional quality of shoyu for almost a century. Another Noda family who is very active in the shoyu industry was the Takanashi family who eventually became interrelated to the Mogi family through marriage.
During the early years, Japan’s shoyu industry distributed their product in two ways: selling directly to the household or by wholesaling. The wholesales formed alliances that eventually took control on prices, inventory, and distribution of shoyu that gave them a monopolistic power. This led the Mogi and Takanashi family in taking a step to counteract this dominance.
During 1910, there were thousand known shoyu makers that led to consolidation and large batch processing of shoyu. By the year 1918, Noda Shoyu Co. was founded by the joint effort of Mogi and Takanashi family as a reaction to the market upheaval cased by the World War I. It was also in 1910 that Noda City’s brewers were introduced overseas when they were selected to appear in a public relation publication. In 1930, Noda Shoyu Company has already exported 10% of its output. The post World War II period brought a number of societal changes to Japanese society. Noda Shoyu Company decided to shut down all its operations abroad. It also issued publicly traded stock to meet the need for capital which reduced family ownership in the company. During this time, Japan began to market more aggressively in Japan which resulted to company’s market share rose sharply.
The company also diversified its product that led the Research and Development expertise to different activities in
Shoyu (soy) had come to Japan with the arrival of Buddhism, a teaching that turned Japanese from meat based to vegetable based flavorings. It was brought by a Japanese Zen Buddhist who studied in China. Noda became a major center for shoyu manufacturing in Japan because of its rich agricultural kanto plain and strategic location. The Mogi family was the one who began brewing shoyu in Noda and has maintained an exceptional quality of shoyu for almost a century. Another Noda family who is very active in the shoyu industry was the Takanashi family who eventually became interrelated to the Mogi family through marriage.
During the early years, Japan’s shoyu industry distributed their product in two ways: selling directly to the household or by wholesaling. The wholesales formed alliances that eventually took control on prices, inventory, and distribution of shoyu that gave them a monopolistic power. This led the Mogi and Takanashi family in taking a step to counteract this dominance.
During 1910, there were thousand known shoyu makers that led to consolidation and large batch processing of shoyu. By the year 1918, Noda Shoyu Co. was founded by the joint effort of Mogi and Takanashi family as a reaction to the market upheaval cased by the World War I. It was also in 1910 that Noda City’s brewers were introduced overseas when they were selected to appear in a public relation publication. In 1930, Noda Shoyu Company has already exported 10% of its output. The post World War II period brought a number of societal changes to Japanese society. Noda Shoyu Company decided to shut down all its operations abroad. It also issued publicly traded stock to meet the need for capital which reduced family ownership in the company. During this time, Japan began to market more aggressively in Japan which resulted to company’s market share rose sharply.
The company also diversified its product that led the Research and Development expertise to different activities in