is a Japanese food manufacturer. Its main products and services include soy sauce, food seasoning and flavoring,

mirin is a type of rice wine and a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. It is similar to sake but with a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content. The sugar content is a complex carbohydrate that forms naturally during the fermentation pro ...

, , and

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...

and other

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoo ...

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field an ...

s, and restaurant

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

services. Kikkoman has production plants and offices in Japan, the U.S., the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Canada. Kikkoman is the most popular brand of soy sauce in Japan and the United States. The village of

Sappemeer Sappemeer () is a town in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Midden-Groningen to the east of Hoogezand. Sappemeer was a separate municipality until 1949, when it merged with Hoogezand. The village is the Europea ...

in Groningen, the Netherlands, is the European headquarters of the company. A plant on the site began operations in 1997 and now produces over 400 million litres of soy sauce per annum.

History

West Japanese-style soy sauce, called , has been a well-known condiment for over 300 years. Kikkoman is the largest manufacturing company in the world, and "the one most responsible for introducing to the West". Founded contemporarily in 1917, with the merger of eight family-owned companies, Kikkoman is based in

Noda NoDa (short for "North Davidson") is a popular arts district in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is located in the North Charlotte neighborhood on and around North Davidson Street and 36th Street, approximately one mile northeast of Upt ...

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to t ...

, Japan. Those companies were founded as early as 1603 by the Mogi and Takanashi families. Kikkoman was originally known as the "Noda Shoyu Corporation" before 1940, when they adopted a single nationwide brand name.

Products

Soy sauce

Kikkoman soy sauce is naturally brewed. After soaking in water for an extended period,

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu a ...

s are steamed at high temperature before they are mixed with crushed roasted wheat. Salt is added, which acts as an anti-bacterial agent and preservative. Next, a genus of the ''

Aspergillus ' () is a genus consisting of several hundred mold species found in various climates worldwide. ''Aspergillus'' was first catalogued in 1729 by the Italian priest and biologist Pier Antonio Micheli. Viewing the fungi under a microscope, Mic ...

'' fungus is added to the mixture and left for three days to create , the base for the soy sauce. This base is then transferred to a tank and mixed with a saline solution, which creates a mash known as . Several months of aging follow, when various organic processes occur including lactic acid, alcoholic and organic acid fermentation take place to create unique flavours. The is then mechanically pressed through layers of fabric for around ten hours to extract the raw product. In the last part of the process, the raw soy sauce is left to separate for 3–4 days, then pasteurised using steam, which also stops any enzymic activity. The final product is then ready for inspection and bottling. Kikkoman has a distinctive bottle for its soy sauce, designed by

Kenji Ekuan was a Japanese industrial designer, best known for creating the design of the Kikkoman soy sauce bottle. Biography Born in Tokyo on September 11, 1929, Ekuan spent his youth in Hawaii. At the end of World War II, he moved to Hiroshima, where he w ...

in 1961.

Gallery

References

External links