The workers spread the mold over the rice. They quietly move to keep the air flowing.
The project of building a brewery in New York for Dassai wasn't the best timed or most meticulously planned. He says the new venture is worth it even after running nearly three years behind schedule and costing six or seven times more than an initial $7 million budget.
The fourth-generation chief of Asahi Shuzo Co., the brewery behind Dassai, sees the brand increasingly reliant on overseas sales for growth as a long-running Pandemic adds to a decline in Japanese sake consumption For the first time in 74 years, shipments outside Japan overtook domestic sales. The New York outpost will be crucial to market the brand to a global clientele which he expects will eventually account for 90% of the company's business.
Sakurai said it was inevitable that the domestic market would keep Shrinking. We want to make sure we do well in Japan, because it's still a showcase market for overseas customers. We have to accept that the population will decline.
A pioneer of the high-end sake market, Dassai is known among its fans for a clean and floral taste, due to the heavy polishing of rice grains. The rice is polished down to less than half its original size. The rice in the premium line is 22%.
Two decades ago, it abandoned its lower-priced sake line and focused on making and marketing a high-end version of the drink.
Japan's sake consumption fell from 1995 to 1996.
The National Tax Agency of Japan.
While it wasn't the only sake maker to shift to the high end market in the past few decades, it was particularly quick to focus on the overseas market.
It was originally a small, family-owned brewery in a remote mountain village in western Japan that was home to another global hitmaker, the clothing brand.
A modern facility with steel tanks and a water cooling system was built by Sakurai's father. The use of advanced equipment has brought more precision and scale to the operation. Quality control and year-round production were improved by the changes.
The company avoided the fate of many of its domestic peers because of its global brand cachet and large-scale production. Sakurai said that the company is on course to set a new sales record.
Domestic sales have been overtaken by overseas sales.
Asahi Shuzo Co. is a company
China has been Sakurai's biggest growth market in recent years, accounting for 70% of its overseas sales last year. Sakurai said that sales there are already above pre-pandemic levels because of strict travel restrictions.
The US sake market is crucial for the next phase of the company's growth because it is diverse and influential.
He wants to make a difference in the food culture.
It is not clear if the New York outpost will help achieve that. Some Americans may still find sake to be too strong compared with wine, and the differences between variations difficult to appreciate. It's easier to pair beer or wine with sushi than it is with pizza or fried chicken.
Locally produced sake can be more widely available at local restaurants and retail stores.
Making the best product at a local sake brewery means we can create more opportunities for people to experience our sake.
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