San-J International, Inc.

The San-J Logo

San-J International, Inc. is a manufacturer of Tamari Soy sauce and other Asian-inspired products. San-J's parent company, San-Jirushi, was founded by the Sato family in 1804 in Mie, Japan. In 1978, San-Jirushi officially established San-J International, Inc. to sell their Tamari soy sauce in the U.S. Today, San-J continues to sell various types of tamari soy sauce and has expanded its product line to include Beika rice crackers, soups, salad dressing, and other Asian cooking sauces. Currently, their U.S. headquarters reside in Henrico, Virginia where sauce and other products are produced and distributed around the country.

The Sato Family in 1804

The History of San-J

Prior to the founding of San-J's parent company, San-Jirushi, the Sato family who would go on to establish the company were doing business as a "kaisen-donya" (translated to wholesaler in port) in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Their primary business was shipping cargo on the nearby Kiso Three Rivers, which was ultimately what would give them the inspiration behind the name and logo of San-Jirushi. In 1804, the Sato family founded San-Jirushi as a Tamari soy sauce and Miso company. The three horizontal bars of their logo represent the three rivers that the Sato Family used for their cargo vessels as kaisen-doya. The name, San-Jirushi, is translated as "the mark of three" - a nod to those same three rivers that were integral to the start of the Sato family's business. After establishing the business, the Sato family would continue to grow San-Jirushi in the Japanese market for the next 170 years.

Entering the U.S. Market

After San-Jirushi and the Sato family had cemented itself as a well-respected tamari producer in Japan, the market started to become saturated. According to the current president of San-J, there are around 1,500 Soy sauce manufacturers in Japan. In the past 50 years, the number of soy sauce makers has declined in Japan along with the population. Additionally, the foods market has become increasingly westernized in Japan within the same time frame. The leaders of San-Jirushi recognized this and made the decision to enter the U.S. market in 1978 under the brand name, San-J.

Tamari quickly became popular in the U.S., due in part to the growing popularity of gluten-free, non-GMO, and organic products, especially in more recent years. In 1987, San-J opened it's first tamari brewing facility in Henrico, Virginia, also the first place in the U.S. to produce Tamari soy sauce. The location was chosen because the weather and conditions were ideal for brewing tamari, similar to their original location in Japan. In addition, the location proved ideal from a logistics perspective with I-95 running north and south and the Amtrak railroad very close to the facility. For exports, the Port of Virginia in Norfolk is also very close and the biggest port on the east coast.

Aside from the climate and the logistics benefits, Virginia gave San-J a chance to create awareness of Japanese cuisine in the typical American household. In the 1980s, California had been considered for the San-j headquarters due to the large Japanese population there, who would've already been familiar with the San-Jirushi brand and more likely to buy San-J products. However, the concern of the leadership within San-J was that dependence on the Japanese community in California for business would ultimately hamper their ability to grow Tamari soy sauce into the mainstream American market, and so the decision to make Virginia the headquarters was made.

San-J Tamari Brewing Process

Soy sauce is a fermented product, similar to how wine or beer is made. While some soy sauce manufacturers have moved to utilizing synthetic methods of brewing which allow for a much shorter brewing period and faster overall production, San-J continues to use traditional brewing methods that have been passed down from earlier generations of the Sato family.

The process starts with soybeans, which are cooked into a mash and incubated for a few days. This creates a base mixture, called moromi. The moromi then moves to a fermentation tank, where it stays for about four to six months. Once the fermentation process has run it's course, a few finishing touches are added to complete the process and the Tamari is ready for bottling.

Takashi Sato, current president of San-J International, Inc.

San-J Today

Today, San-J is lead by the current President, Takashi Sato. Takashi is an 8th generation member of the original Sato family that founded the company in 1804. His father was the president when the company made the decision to enter the U.S. market. San-J sells it's soy sauce primarily to retail stores, but also to food service companies, private-label brands, and restaurants.

Some retail stores that sell San-J products include Kroger, Target, Whole Foods, Ralph's, and Wild Oats. Beef Jerky manufacturers often use tamari as part of their ingredients, which San-J supplies to some. P.F. Chang's uses the gluten-free tamari sauce packets for take-home dishes and California Pizza Kitchen uses it in some of their entrees.

In addition to being a popular supplier of Tamari in the U.S., San-J has also expanded it's business into Canada using a different brand name. San-J is recognized as the world's leading producer of tamari soy sauce and supplements it's main line of tamari soy sauce products with other asian cooking sauces, miso soup packets, and rice crackers. Takashi Sato has said that San-J's sales have grown faster than the soy sauce market as a whole, averaging around 10% growth per year.

References

This article "San-J International, Inc." is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:San-J International, Inc.. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---