is a Japanese manufacturer and distributor of

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

-based foods, and fruit and vegetable juices. Its core product is the Yasai Seikatsu 100 brand of

vegetable juice Vegetable juice is a juice drink made primarily of blended vegetables and also available in the form of powders. Vegetable juice is often mixed with fruits such as apples or grapes to improve flavor. It is often touted as a low-sugar alternative to ...

, introduced in 1995. It also claims to be Japan's largest supplier of

tomato ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushroom ketchup, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or wal ...

and tomato juice. Kagome grows tomatoes in

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

s and

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or s ...

s in Japan. Since 2007, it has partnered with

Asahi Breweries is a Japanese global beer, spirits, soft drinks and food business group headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo. In 2019, the group had revenue of JPY 2.1 trillion. Asahi's business portfolio can be segmented as follows: alcoholic beverage business (4 ...

() to develop low alcohol fruit and vegetable drinks. U.S.-based global fast food restaurateur,

Yum! Brands Yum! Brands, Inc. (or Yum!), formerly Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., is an American fast food corporation listed on the Fortune 1000. Yum! operates the brands KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, except in China, where the br ...

, awarded its 2008 Asia Franchise STAR to Kagome.

History

Ichitaro Kanie began cultivating

es in 1899 — according to Kagome, these were the first grown in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He soon began producing

and Worcester sauce. However, tomato juice was not sold until 1933. The Kagome trademark was registered in 1917, and the Aichi Tomato Co., Ltd was incorporated in 1949. In 1963, Aichi Tomato became Kagome Co., Ltd, and fifteen years later, gained a listing on the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...

. Beginning with the 1998 incorporation of a United States subsidiary, Kagome developed overseas, with subsidiaries and minority stakes in affiliates in Asia, North America and Europe, and a strategic alliance with the

H. J. Heinz Company The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

. It also purchased a Japanese company specializing in vegetable

lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillales are an order of gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally nonsporulating, nonrespiring, either rod-shaped (bacilli) or spherical (cocci) bacteria that share common metabolic and physiological characteristics. These bacte ...

, Yukijirushi Labio Co., Ltd, now Kagome Labio Co., Ltd.

References

External links

Kagome website
(Japanese)
Kagome Foods India website
{{Authority control Japanese companies established in 1949 Food and drink companies established in 1949 Food and drink companies of Japan Manufacturing companies based in Nagoya Condiment companies Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Japanese brands