San-J Family

Moving Forward with Appreciation

Written by: Takashi Sato, San-J President Posted on: September 20, 2016

Appreciation:

My family started the Tamari soy sauce and miso business over 200 years ago, and we’re still a very small company. Our Tamari soy sauce is fermented with Japanese methods handed down for eight generations in my family, and we don’t take short cuts. We’re incredibly thankful that our products have been enjoyed by so many customers. The demand has increased even more rapidly in recent years. As a result, our production is facing the challenge to keep up with the pace to meet all the demands.

We’re doing our best to increase our production. We’ve begun producing on weekends, and some days we even run for a full 24 hours. Despite these efforts, we still are not able to fulfill all needs and it is beyond our capacity to increase production any more than what we currently have.

Facility Expansion:

To solve this situation, we have decided to expand our facility, using the land we have next to our current brewing factory. This growth is a big step forward and requires great responsibility for a small company like us. We discussed and made various plans numerous times. Since our facility has unique equipment and diverse requirements, we spent many hours researching how to meet these needs. Most specifically, our products need to meet the standard of not only their great taste, but also the strict standards of Non-GMO, Organic, Gluten Free, Vegan, and Kosher certifications. It requires very careful, detailed attention, more time, and added cost. But we believe these added resources are worth the energy when it comes to producing the highest quality product. With support of our staff, we finally finished the expansion plan and have started construction.

Groundbreaking:

Prior to the construction, we had a groundbreaking ceremony. It was a small service with only San-J staff and people who are involved in the expansion. After weeks of seemingly endless dreary weather during our planning, we were fortunate to have the encouragement of cheery, sunny weather for our groundbreaking day.

I began the ceremony with some words of appreciation, then we heard from the president of the construction company. We had a chief of the local Native American tribe say a prayer, and the ceremony ended with a speech by Miller, our project and safety compliance manager. Miller is always so upbeat and full of energy. I was moved when I saw him tear up during his speech. Seeing the staff work so hard these past months has been very moving.

It’ll take over a year to finish the construction. Since it takes up to six months to produce our Tamari, we will be able to deliver our Tamari produced in this new facility to our customers starting mid-2018. We are all thrilled that we will be able to increase our production capacity and fulfill the high demand for our products. Thank you for your support as we continue our efforts to provide the best tasting Tamari you can trust.