'Dassai' brand sake brewer expands to meet growing overseas demand
Asahi Shuzo is one of the most active exporters among Japanese sake brewers.
MITSUTOSHI KOUTA, Nikkei staff writer
September 24, 2022 12:04 JST
YAMAGUCHI, Japan -- Asahi Shuzo, the brewer of the Dassai brand of sake, plans to expand its production capacity for high-quality sake in Japan and the U.S.
The company will build a special brewery for high-quality sake in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and will also produce high-value-added sake for Western countries' markets at a brewery it is constructing in the U.S.
Unit purchase prices for sake are trending upward, mainly overseas, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Asahi Shuzo. The company is receiving a growing number of inquiries for high-quality sake from its customers.
Asahi Shuzo is one of the most active exporters among Japanese sake brewers. The company's sake is being consumed as a favorite brand among sake lovers around the world, including Asia, thanks in part to the widespread popularity of Japanese food.
The company estimates its sales will grow 12% in the fiscal year ending September 2022 from a year earlier to an all-time high of just under 16 billion yen ($111 million). Its overseas sales have been steadily growing and now account for 50% of its total sales, up from just over 10% six years ago.
The percentage may further increase with the new breweries.
The special domestic brewery for high-quality sake is to be constructed mainly in the precincts of the company's head office in Iwakuni. Construction is scheduled to begin next summer and to start operating by the winter of 2024. A Dassai sake product priced at 38,500 yen ($268) per 720-milliliter bottle will be the core product at the facility.
YAMAGUCHI, Japan -- Asahi Shuzo, the brewer of the Dassai brand of sake, plans to expand its production capacity for high-quality sake in Japan and the U.S.
The company will build a special brewery for high-quality sake in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and will also produce high-value-added sake for Western countries' markets at a brewery it is constructing in the U.S.
Unit purchase prices for sake are trending upward, mainly overseas, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Asahi Shuzo. The company is receiving a growing number of inquiries for high-quality sake from its customers.
Asahi Shuzo is one of the most active exporters among Japanese sake brewers. The company's sake is being consumed as a favorite brand among sake lovers around the world, including Asia, thanks in part to the widespread popularity of Japanese food.
The company estimates its sales will grow 12% in the fiscal year ending September 2022 from a year earlier to an all-time high of just under 16 billion yen ($111 million). Its overseas sales have been steadily growing and now account for 50% of its total sales, up from just over 10% six years ago.
The percentage may further increase with the new breweries.
The special domestic brewery for high-quality sake is to be constructed mainly in the precincts of the company's head office in Iwakuni. Construction is scheduled to begin next summer and to start operating by the winter of 2024. A Dassai sake product priced at 38,500 yen ($268) per 720-milliliter bottle will be the core product at the facility.
Excellent brewers picked from among those at our head-office breweries will be assigned to the new brewery to produce high-quality sake, according to Kazuhiro Sakurai, Asahi Shuzo president and CEO. (Photo by Mitsutoshi Kouta)
The company will gradually increase production at the new brewery, aiming at an annual output of 540,000 liters in 10 years. The brewery will be staffed by 50 employees.
"Excellent brewers picked from among those at our head-office breweries will be assigned to the new brewery to produce high-quality sake," Kazuhiro Sakurai, the company's president and CEO, said.
The core high-quality item of the Dassai brand is brewed using rice grains polished until they have only 23% of their original weight. The item is priced at 5,500 yen ($38.30) per 720-ml bottle. Meanwhile, sake items priced at $150-$200 are selling well overseas, and the company expects the trend to continue.
At the new American brewery, under construction in New York, the company plans to produce high-quality sake using rice polished to 23% of the original weight and less. The brewery is slated to be completed by the end of December of this year and to become operational by early next spring.
The brewery's total floor space will be about 5,000 sq. meters and the total investment in the facility will be 7 billion yen ($48.8 million), according to the company. The brewery will start operating with a staff of nine employees and produce 126,000 liters in the first year, expanding to a staff of 50 and an annual output of 1.26 million liters in 10 years.
At the American brewery, Asahi Shuzo will produce Dassai Blue, a new brand for overseas markets, and the company hopes to use water of the state of New York and the Yamada Nishiki variety of rice grown in the U.S. The company will use brewer's rice grains polished to 45%, 39% and 23% of the weight of unpolished grains, as in Japan, but Sakurai said, "We also plan to produce higher-value-added sake using brewer's rice polished even further."
The company will gradually increase production at the new brewery, aiming at an annual output of 540,000 liters in 10 years. The brewery will be staffed by 50 employees.
"Excellent brewers picked from among those at our head-office breweries will be assigned to the new brewery to produce high-quality sake," Kazuhiro Sakurai, the company's president and CEO, said.
The core high-quality item of the Dassai brand is brewed using rice grains polished until they have only 23% of their original weight. The item is priced at 5,500 yen ($38.30) per 720-ml bottle. Meanwhile, sake items priced at $150-$200 are selling well overseas, and the company expects the trend to continue.
At the new American brewery, under construction in New York, the company plans to produce high-quality sake using rice polished to 23% of the original weight and less. The brewery is slated to be completed by the end of December of this year and to become operational by early next spring.
The brewery's total floor space will be about 5,000 sq. meters and the total investment in the facility will be 7 billion yen ($48.8 million), according to the company. The brewery will start operating with a staff of nine employees and produce 126,000 liters in the first year, expanding to a staff of 50 and an annual output of 1.26 million liters in 10 years.
At the American brewery, Asahi Shuzo will produce Dassai Blue, a new brand for overseas markets, and the company hopes to use water of the state of New York and the Yamada Nishiki variety of rice grown in the U.S. The company will use brewer's rice grains polished to 45%, 39% and 23% of the weight of unpolished grains, as in Japan, but Sakurai said, "We also plan to produce higher-value-added sake using brewer's rice polished even further."
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